Head to head · Girls' names
Madison vs Mila
#40 vs #43 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Madison is a whisker ahead (#40 vs #43 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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; Mila 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
- 1880s: Madison —, Mila #1055 — Mila higher
- 1890s: Madison —, Mila #1312 — Mila higher
- 1900s: Madison —, Mila #1737 — Mila higher
- 1910s: Madison —, Mila #2323 — Mila higher
- 1920s: Madison —, Mila #2146 — Mila higher
- 1930s: Madison —, Mila #2257 — Mila higher
- 1940s: Madison —, Mila #2276 — Mila higher
- 1950s: Madison —, Mila #2299 — Mila higher
- 1960s: Madison —, Mila #2439 — Mila higher
- 1970s: Madison #8101, Mila #3426 — Mila higher
- 1980s: Madison #1892, Mila #4669 — Madison higher
- 1990s: Madison #64, Mila #4285 — Madison higher
- 2000s: Madison #4, Mila #1139 — Madison higher
- 2010s: Madison #13, Mila #97 — Madison higher
- 2020s: Madison #35, Mila #28 — Mila higher
Mila stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Mila took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madison | Mila |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1055 |
| 1890s | — | #1312 |
| 1900s | — | #1737 |
| 1910s | — | #2323 |
| 1920s | — | #2146 |
| 1930s | — | #2257 |
| 1940s | — | #2276 |
| 1950s | — | #2299 |
| 1960s | — | #2439 |
| 1970s | #8101 | #3426 |
| 1980s | #1892 | #4669 |
| 1990s | #64 | #4285 |
| 2000s | #4 | #1139 |
| 2010s | #13 | #97 |
| 2020s | #35 | #28 |
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
Mila
- Canada#11
- Scotland#40
- England & Wales#46
- France#54
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.
Mila
dear, gracious, kind
The element mil- carries this sense across the Slavic languages. Worth knowing that Mila also reaches families by other roads: as a clipped form of Emilia, Camila or Amelia, and in Spanish-speaking families as a short form of Milagros, "miracles". The sound is the same; the family story behind it differs.
mil- (Slavic element: dear, gracious) → Milena / Ludmila → Mila
How it traveled
The root is Slavic: mil-, meaning dear or gracious, which appears in old compound names such as Miloslav, Bogumila, Ludmila and Milena. Mila began as the affectionate short form of those names and became a full given name in its own right across Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Poland and the Czech lands.
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.
Mila
MEE-lah
MEE-lah is the standard pronunciation and the one used in every language the name comes from. A second English pronunciation, MY-lah, circulates in the US, partly by analogy with the separate spelling Myla — so expect to correct people occasionally, whichever you choose.
- Millie — Informal; also a long-established given name in its own right in English, more often tied to Millicent or Amelia.
- Mimi — Household nickname rather than a formal one; used within families across several languages.
- Milka — The traditional Slavic diminutive of Mila, still used in Serbian and Croatian families.
- Mi — A one-syllable clip used informally; Mila is already short enough that many bearers use no nickname at all.
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
Mila
Mila Kunis (b. 1983) — That '70s Show and Black Swan 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 with more sound in itMadison runs 3 syllables, Mila 2
Choose Mila if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesMila is 2 syllables to Madison's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMila is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland, England & Wales and France
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.
Mila
Strengths
- Four letters, spelled the way it sounds in English, Spanish and most Slavic languages — rarely needs to be repeated or spelled out.
- Works as a standalone name or as the short form of Emilia, Camila, Amelia, Milena or Milagros, which gives a longer formal option if you want one.
- Charts in Canada, Scotland, England & Wales and France as well as the US, so it crosses borders without translation.
To consider
- Two pronunciations compete in the US, MEE-lah and MY-lah. Both are used; you will be the one who sets the default, and will sometimes have to reset it.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood — Mia, Milla, Myla, Ella, Layla, Amelia. Mail and roll calls may need a second look.
- The name's wave is genuinely recent, so nearly everyone who carries it in the US is a child. That reads young now and will simply read as a generation later on.
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 Madison and Mila 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 Mila?
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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- America's top 100 names right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Madison and Mila — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madison or Mila — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madison or Mila?
- Madison, in 2025: Madison ranked #40 with 4,945 babies; Mila ranked #43 with 4,796 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madison or Mila?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Madison moved down 17 places; Mila moved down 23 places.
- Which is the older name, Madison or Mila?
- Madison entered the US charts in 1970; Mila entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Mila is the older name.
- How many people are named Madison and Mila?
- About 416,000 people named Madison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 83,500 people named Mila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Madisons or Milas in the classroom?
- Madison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mila 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, Mila and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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