Head to head · Girls' names
Maddison vs Mya
#438 vs #443 in 2025
Maddison is a whisker ahead (#438 vs #443 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maddison is holding its place on the charts, Mya is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Maddison and Mya each lead 3 measures of 6.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1950s: Maddison —, Mya #5928 — Mya higher
- 1960s: Maddison —, Mya #4083 — Mya higher
- 1970s: Maddison —, Mya #2488 — Mya higher
- 1980s: Maddison #3830, Mya #2034 — Mya higher
- 1990s: Maddison #856, Mya #1149 — Maddison higher
- 2000s: Maddison #428, Mya #120 — Mya higher
- 2010s: Maddison #349, Mya #148 — Mya higher
- 2020s: Maddison #480, Mya #328 — Mya higher
Mya stood higher in 7 of 8 decades; Mya has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maddison | Mya |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | — | #5928 |
| 1960s | — | #4083 |
| 1970s | — | #2488 |
| 1980s | #3830 | #2034 |
| 1990s | #856 | #1149 |
| 2000s | #428 | #120 |
| 2010s | #349 | #148 |
| 2020s | #480 | #328 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maddison
Not charting outside the US.
Mya
- France#68
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Maddison
son of Maud
The surname comes from a medieval pet form, Madde, plus "son". Surname scholars disagree over which name Madde stood for: most read it as Maud (from Matilda), while others allow Magdalen or the men's name Matthew. All three readings are serious; the "son of Maud" line is the most widely given.
Matilda → Maud → Madde → Maddison
How it traveled
The surname Maddison is recorded in medieval England, concentrated in Durham and Northumberland, formed the ordinary way — a first name plus "son". It stayed a surname for centuries, worn in Britain and carried to America, where the single-d Madison also became a well-known political and street name.
Mya
Generally read as a short spelling of Maya/Maia; the underlying roots compete
Maia is the Greek name of the eldest Pleiad, tied by ancient writers to a word for mother or nurse, and the month of May carries the same name. In Sanskrit, māyā means illusion or magic. Maya is also long established as a Hebrew given name. Separately, mya is the Burmese word for emerald and appears in Burmese names. A three-letter spelling inherits all of these rather than settling them.
Maia → Maya → Mya
How it traveled
The name behind this spelling runs back to Greek Maia, the eldest of the Pleiades and, in the myths, the mother of Hermes; Roman writers connected her to the month of May. Along a different road entirely, māyā is a Sanskrit word, and Maya has its own long life as a Hebrew name — three traditions that arrived at nearly the same sound independently.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Maddison
MAD-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled d changes nothing about how it is said — Maddison and Madison are heard identically.
- Maddie — The default short form, used from toddlerhood onward and often kept into adult life; also given as a standalone name.
- Maddy — Same sound, the other common spelling; which one sticks usually depends on the family.
- Mads — Informal, mostly between friends and siblings.
- Addie — Less common route, taken from the middle of the name rather than the front.
Mya
MY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with the second half of Sophia's cousin Maya. A minority of speakers see the spelling and try MEE-ah, mistaking it for Mia — expect to correct that occasionally.
- My — Informal clipping used within families; rarely written down.
- Mymy — A doubled pet form, mostly used by parents and siblings in early childhood.
- Mya-Mya — Reduplicated affectionate form heard at home rather than in school or on paper.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maddison if you want…
- a name on the way upup 36 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMaddison runs 3 syllables, Mya 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 66% for Mya
Choose Mya if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMya is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMya is 2 syllables to Maddison's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMya is on the national lists of France
- a name that feels very nowMya is stepping back from its peak
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Maddison
Strengths
- Pronounced correctly on sight by nearly everyone, since the sound is already familiar from the surname and the single-d spelling.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Maddie, that has been in use for generations and also works as a name on its own.
- A genuine English surname with a documented medieval record, not a modern coinage.
To consider
- The single-d Madison is the spelling most Americans assume, so expect a lifetime of gentle correction on forms, emails and coffee cups.
- Maddie is shared with Madeline, Madelyn, Madison and more, so the nickname will be far more crowded than the full name — worth knowing if the appeal is rarity.
- Almost everyone carrying it is still young, which ties the name fairly clearly to one stretch of time rather than to a long line of grandmothers and great-aunts.
Mya
Strengths
- Three letters, two syllables, every sound plain in English — a child can write it early and say it clearly.
- Sits inside a large family of related names — Maya, Maia, Maja, Mia — so it reads as recognizable rather than invented anywhere in Europe.
- Charts in France as well as the United States, and the Maya form is at home in Hebrew, Polish, German and Greek.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Maya, Maia and Maja, and with Mia beside it. She will likely spell it aloud for life, and forms will sometimes come back with the a added.
- Because the name climbed and is now easing back, its bearers cluster heavily among teenagers and young adults rather than spreading evenly across the generations.
- At three letters it gives little to work with in a long surname or a hyphenated one; the whole name can end up very short. Some parents pair it with a longer middle name for balance.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maddison
40%chance Maddison feels dated by 2040
Maddison sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Mya
66%chance Mya feels dated by 2040
Mya is coming down from a big peak (#97 in 2009). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Maddison and Mya in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Maddison and Mya?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Maddison and Mya — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maddison or Mya — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maddison or Mya?
- Maddison, in 2025: Maddison ranked #438 with 703 babies; Mya ranked #443 with 697 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maddison or Mya?
- Maddison. Over the last five years Maddison moved up 36 places; Mya moved down 200 places.
- Which is the older name, Maddison or Mya?
- Maddison entered the US charts in 1985; Mya entered the US charts in 1954. On the American record, Mya is the older name.
- How many people are named Maddison and Mya?
- About 24,000 people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 62,000 people named Mya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maddisons or Myas in the classroom?
- Maddison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mya will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Maddison, Mya and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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