Head to head · Girls' names
Madilyn vs Xiomara
#464 vs #463 in 2025
Xiomara is a whisker ahead (#463 vs #464 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Xiomara is climbing the charts fast, 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
The tape is even: Madilyn and Xiomara 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
- 1920s: Madilyn #4002, Xiomara — — Madilyn higher
- 1930s: Madilyn #3886, Xiomara — — Madilyn higher
- 1940s: Madilyn #3676, Xiomara — — Madilyn higher
- 1950s: Madilyn #5323, Xiomara #4300 — Xiomara higher
- 1960s: Madilyn —, Xiomara #3433 — Xiomara higher
- 1970s: Madilyn #8800, Xiomara #2279 — Xiomara higher
- 1980s: Madilyn #5776, Xiomara #1444 — Xiomara higher
- 1990s: Madilyn #2064, Xiomara #1184 — Xiomara higher
- 2000s: Madilyn #471, Xiomara #949 — Madilyn higher
- 2010s: Madilyn #319, Xiomara #1021 — Madilyn higher
- 2020s: Madilyn #370, Xiomara #492 — Madilyn higher
Madilyn stood higher in 6 of 11 decades; Madilyn has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madilyn | Xiomara |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | #4002 | — |
| 1930s | #3886 | — |
| 1940s | #3676 | — |
| 1950s | #5323 | #4300 |
| 1960s | — | #3433 |
| 1970s | #8800 | #2279 |
| 1980s | #5776 | #1444 |
| 1990s | #2064 | #1184 |
| 2000s | #471 | #949 |
| 2010s | #319 | #1021 |
| 2020s | #370 | #492 |
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
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.
Xiomara
most often given as "famous in battle"
The standard account traces Xiomara to the Iberian name Guiomar, itself from Germanic elements usually read as wig "battle" and mari "famous" — hence the familiar gloss "famous in battle" or "ready for battle." Other reference works decline to commit and simply record it as a Spanish name of uncertain origin. Neither reading has fully displaced the other.
Wigmar → Guiomar → Xiomara
How it traveled
The trail begins with Guiomar, a name carried in medieval Iberian literature and long used in both Spain and Portugal. In Spanish-speaking America the form Xiomara took hold and became a name in its own right, widely given in the Caribbean and Central America, and there the X follows the Spanish habit of sounding like an s.
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
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.
Xiomara
see-oh-MAH-rah
That is the Spanish reading, with X sounded as a soft s. In English-speaking settings you will also hear zee-oh-MAH-rah and, less often, shoh-MAH-rah. Deciding which version your family uses — and saying it first when introducing her — settles most of the question.
- Xio — The most common short form in Spanish-speaking families, said "see-oh"; informal, rarely used on paper.
- Xiomy — Affectionate diminutive, also spelled Xiomi; used mostly by family and close friends.
- Mara — Draws on the end of the name rather than the start, and stands on its own as a given name in Spanish, Italian and Romanian.
- Xio-Xio — Doubled nursery form heard within families; not used outside them.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Madilyn if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMadilyn is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMadilyn is 3 syllables to Xiomara's 4
Choose Xiomara if you want…
- a name on the way upup 146 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itXiomara runs 4 syllables, Madilyn 3
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
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.
Xiomara
Strengths
- Real, established short forms already in use: Xio, Xiomy and Mara, so there is no need to invent one.
- A documented line back to the Iberian name Guiomar, which is still given in Spain and Portugal — a long record behind an uncommon spelling.
- Works across Spanish and English without changing its spelling, and needs no accent marks.
To consider
- The X at the front is the sticking point. English speakers who have not met the name will guess at it, and she may spend a lifetime offering a short correction — a real cost, though a small and repeatable one.
- Expect spelling questions too, especially over the phone: Xiomara, Ziomara and Xiomarah all exist.
- The meaning is not fully settled. If you want a name with one agreed translation, this is not it — though the competing readings are both old and both interesting.
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 Madilyn and Xiomara in full.
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Decide together
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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
- Hometown favorites: names only one state loves
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Names with an X in them
- Names with only one spelling
- all guides
Where Madilyn and Xiomara each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madilyn or Xiomara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madilyn or Xiomara?
- Xiomara, in 2025: Xiomara ranked #463 with 665 babies; Madilyn ranked #464 with 662 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madilyn or Xiomara?
- Xiomara. Over the last five years Madilyn moved down 138 places; Xiomara moved up 146 places.
- Which is the older name, Madilyn or Xiomara?
- Madilyn entered the US charts in 1924; Xiomara entered the US charts in 1954. On the American record, Madilyn is the older name.
- How many people are named Madilyn and Xiomara?
- About 23,500 people named Madilyn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,000 people named Xiomara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Madilyns or Xiomaras in the classroom?
- Madilyn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Xiomara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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