Head to head · Girls' names
Madeleine vs Madilyn
#454 vs #464 in 2025
Madeleine is a whisker ahead (#454 vs #464 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Madeleine is holding its place on the charts, Madilyn 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
On the charts, Madeleine leads 5 measures of 6; Madilyn leads 0.
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
- 1880s: Madeleine #671, Madilyn — — Madeleine higher
- 1890s: Madeleine #426, Madilyn — — Madeleine higher
- 1900s: Madeleine #477, Madilyn — — Madeleine higher
- 1910s: Madeleine #490, Madilyn — — Madeleine higher
- 1920s: Madeleine #474, Madilyn #4002 — Madeleine higher
- 1930s: Madeleine #585, Madilyn #3886 — Madeleine higher
- 1940s: Madeleine #540, Madilyn #3676 — Madeleine higher
- 1950s: Madeleine #841, Madilyn #5323 — Madeleine higher
- 1960s: Madeleine #1295, Madilyn — — Madeleine higher
- 1970s: Madeleine #2142, Madilyn #8800 — Madeleine higher
- 1980s: Madeleine #1410, Madilyn #5776 — Madeleine higher
- 1990s: Madeleine #349, Madilyn #2064 — Madeleine higher
- 2000s: Madeleine #307, Madilyn #471 — Madeleine higher
- 2010s: Madeleine #326, Madilyn #319 — Madilyn higher
- 2020s: Madeleine #417, Madilyn #370 — Madilyn higher
Madeleine stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Madilyn has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madeleine | Madilyn |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #671 | — |
| 1890s | #426 | — |
| 1900s | #477 | — |
| 1910s | #490 | — |
| 1920s | #474 | #4002 |
| 1930s | #585 | #3886 |
| 1940s | #540 | #3676 |
| 1950s | #841 | #5323 |
| 1960s | #1295 | — |
| 1970s | #2142 | #8800 |
| 1980s | #1410 | #5776 |
| 1990s | #349 | #2064 |
| 2000s | #307 | #471 |
| 2010s | #326 | #319 |
| 2020s | #417 | #370 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Madeleine
from Magdala — a town on the Sea of Galilee
The place name itself comes from a Semitic root meaning tower; Madeleine names the town, not the tower directly.
Magdala → Magdalēnē → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madeline
How it traveled
The name begins as an epithet rather than a name: Mary of Magdala, distinguished in the Gospels from the other Marys by where she came from. Greek rendered it Magdalēnē, Latin Magdalena, and from Latin the French wore it down to Madeleine, dropping the g and softening the ending.
Madilyn
of Magdala — a village by the Sea of Galilee
Magdala's own name is traced to a Semitic root meaning tower, so the fuller reading often given is 'woman of the tower town'. The name reaches English through Mary Magdalene of the Gospels, whose byname simply marked where she was from.
Magdalēnē → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madelyn → Madilyn
How it traveled
The Greek of the New Testament gives Magdalēnē, an epithet rather than a name: the woman from Magdala. Latin carried it into medieval Europe, where it became Madeleine in French and, in English mouths, was worn down to Maudlin — which is why Magdalen College at Oxford is still said that way.
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
Madeleine
MAD-uh-lin
Also said MAD-uh-line in the US, and mad-LEN in French. All three are in genuine use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Maddie — The everyday short form; also used by girls named Madison, Madelyn and Madeline, so it rarely identifies which name is on the birth certificate.
- Mads — Clipped and informal, common among friends and teammates; in Denmark, Mads is a separate men's given name.
- Lena — Taken from the Magdalena end of the name; stands alone as a given name across Germany, Scandinavia and Poland.
- Magda — Formal-adjacent short form used mainly where the Magdalena spelling is standard, such as Poland, Spain and Germany.
- Also Del.
Madilyn
MAD-uh-lin
Three syllables, stress on the first, with the middle vowel reduced — the same in speech as Madeline and Madelyn. Some families say the last syllable closer to MAD-uh-lyn, and both pass without comment.
- Maddie — The everyday short form, shared across the whole Madeleine family; widely used on its own in speech and often on paperwork too.
- Madi — Spelling of the same nickname that echoes the -i- of the full name; common in writing among younger bearers.
- Mads — Clipped, informal, mostly friends-and-siblings territory.
- Lyn — Drawn from the ending rather than the beginning; less common, and a standalone given name in its own right.
One short form, two names
- Madeleine and Madilyn both shorten to Maddie.
- Madeleine and Madilyn both shorten to Mads.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Madeleine if you want…
- a name most people already know#454 in 2025, 679 babies that year
Choose Madilyn if you want…
- a name fewer children share#464 in 2025 — madilyn will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsMadilyn 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
Madeleine
Strengths
- Recognizable in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Polish through its close cousins Madeleine, Magdalena and Maddalena.
- A documented line running from the Gospels through medieval Latin and French to the present, with no gap.
- Familiar to nearly everyone without being crowded — most classrooms will have just the one.
To consider
- The -eine ending will be respelled Madeline or Madelyn by people writing it down for the rest of her life. Most Madeleines learn to spell it aloud without thinking about it.
- Three pronunciations circulate in English and none is wrong, so she will hear all of them and choose her own.
- Maddie is shared with Madison, Madelyn and Madeline, so the nickname is considerably more common in a schoolyard than the full name is.
Madilyn
Strengths
- The spelling is phonetic: most Americans read it correctly the first time, without a pause.
- Maddie comes ready-made — an established short form with a long record behind it, not something you have to invent.
- The name family exists in nearly every European language, so relatives abroad will have a version they already know.
To consider
- Madelyn, Madeline, Madilynn and Madeleine are all in circulation, so this exact spelling will be asked about and corrected fairly often across a lifetime.
- Maddie is shared with Madison, Madelyn, Madeleine and Matilda. Even as the only Madilyn in a school, she may not be the only Maddie.
- Phonetic respellings like this one belong recognizably to a recent stretch of American naming, and the name has begun easing down from its high point — it will read as belonging to a particular era rather than to no era at all.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Madeleine and Madilyn 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 Madeleine and Madilyn?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Madeleine and Madilyn each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madeleine or Madilyn — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madeleine or Madilyn?
- Madeleine, in 2025: Madeleine ranked #454 with 679 babies; Madilyn ranked #464 with 662 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madeleine or Madilyn?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Madeleine moved down 57 places; Madilyn moved down 138 places.
- Which is the older name, Madeleine or Madilyn?
- Madeleine entered the US charts in 1881; Madilyn entered the US charts in 1924. On the American record, Madeleine is the older name.
- How many people are named Madeleine and Madilyn?
- About 39,000 people named Madeleine are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,500 people named Madilyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Madeleine and Madilyn share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Maddie and Mads, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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