Head to head · Girls' names
Madelyn vs Millie
#70 vs #73 in 2025
Madelyn is a whisker ahead (#70 vs #73 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Madelyn is holding its place on the charts, Millie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Millie has the edge.
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, Madelyn leads 4 measures of 6; Millie leads 2.
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: Madelyn —, Millie #146 — Millie higher
- 1890s: Madelyn #871, Millie #189 — Millie higher
- 1900s: Madelyn #551, Millie #225 — Millie higher
- 1910s: Madelyn #412, Millie #263 — Millie higher
- 1920s: Madelyn #400, Millie #342 — Millie higher
- 1930s: Madelyn #518, Millie #406 — Millie higher
- 1940s: Madelyn #503, Millie #504 — Madelyn higher
- 1950s: Madelyn #672, Millie #670 — Millie higher
- 1960s: Madelyn #1006, Millie #952 — Millie higher
- 1970s: Madelyn #1289, Millie #1483 — Madelyn higher
- 1980s: Madelyn #1346, Millie #2276 — Madelyn higher
- 1990s: Madelyn #419, Millie #2694 — Madelyn higher
- 2000s: Madelyn #104, Millie #1513 — Madelyn higher
- 2010s: Madelyn #68, Millie #529 — Madelyn higher
- 2020s: Madelyn #65, Millie #126 — Madelyn higher
Millie stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Madelyn has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madelyn | Millie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #146 |
| 1890s | #871 | #189 |
| 1900s | #551 | #225 |
| 1910s | #412 | #263 |
| 1920s | #400 | #342 |
| 1930s | #518 | #406 |
| 1940s | #503 | #504 |
| 1950s | #672 | #670 |
| 1960s | #1006 | #952 |
| 1970s | #1289 | #1483 |
| 1980s | #1346 | #2276 |
| 1990s | #419 | #2694 |
| 2000s | #104 | #1513 |
| 2010s | #68 | #529 |
| 2020s | #65 | #126 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Madelyn
Not charting outside the US.
Millie
- Scotland#7
- England & Wales#27
- Canada#83
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Madelyn
Of Magdala — a town on the Sea of Galilee
Magdala is generally traced to a Semitic root for "tower", so the underlying sense is roughly "the tower place", but the name itself functions as a place reference rather than a word for tower.
Magdalene → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madeline → Madelyn
How it traveled
The line begins with Greek Magdalene in the New Testament, an epithet marking Mary as coming from Magdala. Latin turned it into Magdalena, and medieval French smoothed that into Madeleine, which English speakers borrowed and respelled as Madeline.
Millie
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'gentle strength', 'work' or 'strong worker' are the usual readings
Millie is a short form of several unrelated names, so its meaning shifts with its parent. Through Mildred it goes back to Old English mild ('gentle') and þryð ('strength, power'). Through Millicent it traces to a Germanic name built on amal ('work, labor') and swinth ('strong'). Through Amelia and Emilia the roots are amal again, and the Roman family name Aemilius. Used on its own, as it very often is now, Millie carries no single settled meaning.
Mildþryð → Mildred → Millie
How it traveled
The name is English in its current shape, but the material behind it is older and came from more than one direction. Mildred is native Old English, borne by an Anglo-Saxon abbess and revived by Victorian parents with a taste for early English names.
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
Madelyn
MAD-uh-lin
Three syllables, stress on the first. The -lyn spelling exists precisely to head off the French-influenced MAD-uh-line or MAD-uh-leen you get with Madeleine, though someone who knows the French form may still reach for it once.
- Maddie — The everyday short form, used across the whole Madeline/Madelyn family and given as a standalone name in its own right.
- Maddy — Same short form, the alternative spelling; families usually pick one and stick with it.
- Mads — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings rather than adults.
- Lyn — Drawn from the ending instead of the beginning; less common, and also a given name on its own.
- Also Magda.
Millie
MIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable, and no regional disagreement about it in English. The Millie/Milly spelling choice is the only thing that trips people up, not the sound.
- Millie — Now used as a full given name in its own right on birth records, as well as an informal short form of Mildred, Millicent, Amelia, Emilia and Camilla.
- Mills — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; a surname-style nickname of the kind English speakers apply to short names.
- Mil — Very informal and family-only; rarely written down.
- Millie-Mae — A double form found in British usage, where hyphenated pairings with Millie are established.
Who has carried each name
Madelyn
Madelyn Cline (b. 1997) — Outer Banks star
Millie
Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004) — Stranger Things' Eleven
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Madelyn if you want…
- a name holding steadyMadelyn is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itMadelyn runs 3 syllables, Millie 2
- a newer arrivalMadelyn entered the US charts in 1890
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 60% for Millie
Choose Millie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 117 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMillie is 2 syllables to Madelyn's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMillie is on the national lists of Scotland, England & Wales and Canada
- a long American recordMillie was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Madelyn
Strengths
- Maddie is a ready-made short form with a long track record, so the name works in both formal and casual registers without any effort.
- The spelling tells the reader the pronunciation, which the French Madeleine does not.
- A documented ancestry running from Greek through Latin and French into English — one continuous line rather than a guess.
To consider
- Madeline, Madelyn, Madilyn, Madalyn and Madeleine all coexist, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often and to see it written the other way on forms.
- Maddie is shared with Madison, Madeline and Madelyn alike, so the nickname is far more crowded than the full name is.
- The -lyn ending places it with a broad family of recent respellings; if you want the older, more European look on paper, Madeleine or Magdalena is the same name.
Millie
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and immediately readable — most people will say it correctly on first sight.
- Works either as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Amelia, Emilia, Millicent, Camilla or Mildred, which leaves the decision flexible.
- Currently charting in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels across English-speaking countries without explanation.
To consider
- Millie and Milly are both established, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is exactly what keeps the confusion going.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in classrooms now may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- As a diminutive by origin, it has no more formal register of its own. Some parents solve this by choosing a longer legal name and using Millie every day; others simply don't mind.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Madelyn
40%chance Madelyn feels dated by 2040
Madelyn 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.
Millie
60%chance Millie feels dated by 2040
Millie is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
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 Madelyn and Millie 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 Madelyn and Millie?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Madelyn and Millie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madelyn or Millie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madelyn or Millie?
- Madelyn, in 2025: Madelyn ranked #70 with 3,362 babies; Millie ranked #73 with 3,353 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madelyn or Millie?
- Millie. Over the last five years Madelyn moved down 4 places; Millie moved up 117 places.
- Which is the older name, Madelyn or Millie?
- Madelyn entered the US charts in 1890; Millie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Millie is the older name.
- How many people are named Madelyn and Millie?
- About 107,000 people named Madelyn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Millie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Madelyns or Millies in the classroom?
- Madelyn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Millie 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
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