Head to head · Girls' names
Madison vs Maya
#40 vs #62 in 2025
Madison is a whisker ahead (#40 vs #62 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Madison is stepping back from its peak, Maya is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Maya 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, Madison leads 4 measures of 6; Maya leads 1.
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
- 1940s: Madison —, Maya #4264 — Maya higher
- 1950s: Madison —, Maya #3682 — Maya higher
- 1960s: Madison —, Maya #1952 — Maya higher
- 1970s: Madison #8101, Maya #757 — Maya higher
- 1980s: Madison #1892, Maya #631 — Maya higher
- 1990s: Madison #64, Maya #257 — Madison higher
- 2000s: Madison #4, Maya #80 — Madison higher
- 2010s: Madison #13, Maya #66 — Madison higher
- 2020s: Madison #35, Maya #55 — Madison higher
Maya stood higher in 5 of 9 decades; Madison has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madison | Maya |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #4264 |
| 1950s | — | #3682 |
| 1960s | — | #1952 |
| 1970s | #8101 | #757 |
| 1980s | #1892 | #631 |
| 1990s | #64 | #257 |
| 2000s | #4 | #80 |
| 2010s | #13 | #66 |
| 2020s | #35 | #55 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Madison
- Canada#61
Maya
- England & Wales#15
- Canada#16
- Scotland#20
- France#76
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Madison
"son of Maud"
The medieval English surname was formed from Madde or Maddy — a pet form of Maud, itself the English shape of Matilda — plus the patronymic "-son". A minority of surname scholars trace some bearers to Magdalene instead, but Maud carries the main line.
Matilda → Maud → Maddy → Madison
How it traveled
The surname was in use in medieval England, one of the many built by attaching "-son" to a mother's or father's familiar name. It reached American maps through James Madison, fourth president of the United States, whose name was given to the Wisconsin capital, to Madison Avenue in New York, and to counties in nearly every state.
Maya
Depends on which road you follow: 'illusion' in Sanskrit, 'mother' or 'nurse' in Greek, 'water' in modern Hebrew
These are not rival guesses at one word but several distinct names that arrived at the same spelling. Sanskrit माया (māyā) is a philosophical term for the illusory surface of the world, and Māyā is also the name given in Buddhist tradition to the Buddha's mother. Greek Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes; the Roman Maia gave her name to the month of May. In Hebrew, Maya is generally connected to mayim, 'water'. Slavic Maja and Майя run alongside all of these.
How it traveled
The oldest written traces are the Sanskrit māyā of Hindu philosophy and the Greek Maia of the Pleiades, two unrelated words that happen to sound alike. Latin took Maia from Greek and attached her to the month of May, which is how the sound stayed alive in Europe long after the goddess faded.
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
Madison
MAD-ih-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The middle vowel is usually swallowed in ordinary speech, giving something close to MAD-sun. Pronunciation is the same in American, British and Canadian English.
- Maddie — The everyday short form, and a given name in its own right; also serves Madeline, Madelyn and Matilda, so a classroom Maddie could be any of them.
- Maddy — The same nickname with the older spelling — the very form that produced the surname in medieval England.
- Mads — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings. Note that Mads is a standard men's given name in Denmark.
- Madi — A trimmed written form, common in usernames and signatures more than in speech.
Maya
MY-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Sanskrit original is closer to MAH-yah, and Polish or German Maja is pronounced the same way as English Maya. The main mix-up is with Mia (MEE-ah), a separate name.
- May — The most common short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Mai — Same sound as May with a spelling closer to the parent name; also an independent name in Welsh, Vietnamese and Japanese.
- Mimi — A family-level pet form rather than a public one; used affectionately by some households, not something a teacher would reach for.
Who has carried each name
Madison
Madison Beer (b. 1999) — Pop singer discovered by Justin Bieber
Madison Keys (b. 1995) — Australian Open champion tennis star
Maya
Maya Angelou (b. 1928) — Poet of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Maya Lin (b. 1959) — Designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at age 21
Maya Rudolph (b. 1972) — SNL great and comedy star
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 Madison if you want…
- a name most people already know#40 in 2025, 4,945 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsMadison is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMadison runs 3 syllables, Maya 2
- a name that feels very nowMadison is stepping back from its peak
Choose Maya if you want…
- a name fewer children share#62 in 2025 — maya will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with fewer syllablesMaya is 2 syllables to Madison's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMaya is on the national lists of England & Wales, Canada, Scotland and France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 85% for Madison
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
Madison
Strengths
- Spelled and said the same way by nearly everyone in the US and Canada; no correction needed at a coffee counter or a roll call.
- Comes with ready-made short forms — Maddie, Maddy, Mads — that are already in wide use rather than invented on the spot.
- Works as both a full formal name and a one-syllable nickname, which gives a child room to choose.
To consider
- The alternative spellings — Maddison, Madisyn, Madyson — are common enough that people will often ask which one you mean.
- Because Maddie is shared with Madeline, Madelyn and Matilda, the nickname is far more crowded than the full name.
- Its rise was steep and recent, so the name sits closely with a particular young-adult generation rather than reading as inherited or old-fashioned.
Maya
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable on sight in English, Spanish, German, Polish and Hebrew — few names travel that far without needing a spelling lesson.
To consider
- Mia, Maia, Maja and Mya all sit close by, so expect to spell it aloud now and then — the sound alone will not tell people which one you mean.
- The Sanskrit sense, 'illusion', is a philosophical term rather than a compliment, and anyone who knows it may mention it. The Greek and Hebrew readings are just as legitimate.
- Familiar without being everywhere: most people will have heard the name, and a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Madison
85%chance Madison feels dated by 2040
Madison is coming down from a big peak (#2 in 2001). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Maya
40%chance Maya feels dated by 2040
Maya 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.
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 Madison and Maya 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 Madison and Maya?
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 Madison and Maya — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madison or Maya — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madison or Maya?
- Madison, in 2025: Madison ranked #40 with 4,945 babies; Maya ranked #62 with 3,712 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madison or Maya?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Madison moved down 17 places; Maya moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Madison or Maya?
- Madison entered the US charts in 1970; Maya entered the US charts in 1940. On the American record, Maya is the older name.
- How many people are named Madison and Maya?
- About 416,000 people named Madison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 122,000 people named Maya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Madisons or Mayas in the classroom?
- Madison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maya 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 Madison, Maya and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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