Head to head · Girls' names
Madisson vs Samara
#319 vs #320 in 2025
Madisson is a whisker ahead (#319 vs #320 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Madisson is climbing the charts fast, Samara is holding its place on the charts.
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: Madisson and Samara 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
- 1940s: Madisson —, Samara #5244 — Samara higher
- 1950s: Madisson —, Samara #4877 — Samara higher
- 1960s: Madisson —, Samara #3430 — Samara higher
- 1970s: Madisson —, Samara #1286 — Samara higher
- 1980s: Madisson #10847, Samara #1263 — Samara higher
- 1990s: Madisson #4787, Samara #1060 — Samara higher
- 2000s: Madisson #3377, Samara #571 — Samara higher
- 2010s: Madisson #4507, Samara #496 — Samara higher
- 2020s: Madisson #1677, Samara #319 — Samara higher
Samara stood higher in every recorded decade — 9 of 9.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Madisson | Samara |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #5244 |
| 1950s | — | #4877 |
| 1960s | — | #3430 |
| 1970s | — | #1286 |
| 1980s | #10847 | #1263 |
| 1990s | #4787 | #1060 |
| 2000s | #3377 | #571 |
| 2010s | #4507 | #496 |
| 2020s | #1677 | #319 |
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
Madisson
"son of Madde" — that is, son of Maud or of Magdalen
The surname is a patronymic built on Madde or Maddy, a medieval English pet form. Which name Madde stood for is the open question: most readings take it from Maud (itself from Matilda, "mighty in battle"), others from Magdalen. Either way the literal sense is "Madde's son," which sits oddly on a girl's name and has bothered nobody in forty years.
Matilda → Maud → Madde → Madison → Madisson
How it traveled
Madison began as an English surname, formed the ordinary medieval way by adding -son to a woman's pet name. It crossed to America as a family name and became famous there through the fourth president, James Madison, which is why nineteenth-century American boys occasionally carried it as a first name.
Samara
Several competing readings, none of them the single source
In Latin, samara is the winged seed of the elm — still the botanical term in English for a maple or ash key. In Sanskrit, samara means battle or conflict. The Arabic root s-m-r, behind names like Samar and Samira, carries the sense of evening talk and companionship. Separately, Samara is a major Russian city on the Volga, and the name resembles Samaria, the biblical region. These are genuinely distinct origins that happen to meet at one spelling.
How it traveled
There is no single road into Samara; there are several that converge. Latin gave English samara as a technical word for a winged seed, and it sits in botany textbooks to this day.
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
Madisson
MAD-i-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The doubled s changes nothing about the sound — it is said exactly as Madison is.
- Maddie — The default informal form; also given as a full name in its own right, and shared with Madeline and Matilda.
- Maddy — Same short form, the other common spelling — families tend to pick one and stick with it.
- Madi — Informal, and the spelling most often seen in writing among younger bearers.
- Mads — Casual, one syllable, common among friends and teammates.
- Also Sonny.
Samara
suh-MAR-uh
Most common in the US is suh-MAR-uh or suh-MAH-ruh. SAM-uh-ruh, with the stress up front, is also used and is the standard reading of the botanical word. Both are correct; families usually pick one and repeat it.
- Sam — The obvious informal short form; also stands alone as a given name for both girls and boys.
- Sammy — Informal and affectionate, used across generations; also independent as a name.
- Mara — Takes the back half instead of the front; an established given name in its own right in several languages.
- Sami — Informal; used in English and also independently in Arabic- and Finnish-speaking contexts.
- Also Sara.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Madisson if you want…
- a name on the way upup 2,455 places on the charts in five years
- a name that feels very nowMadisson is climbing the charts fast
Choose Samara if you want…
- a name holding steadySamara is holding its place on the charts
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 67% for Madisson
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
Madisson
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight anywhere in the English-speaking world, because the underlying name is thoroughly familiar.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation — Maddie, Maddy, Madi — none of which need explaining.
- Works as a surname-style name, which sits easily on a résumé, a byline or a nameplate.
To consider
- The world will default to Madison. Expect a lifetime of correcting one letter — on forms, in emails, on coffee cups. Many families decide that trade is worth the distinctiveness; some decide it isn't.
- The spelling is rare but the sound is not. A Madisson may still meet several Madisons, and will share Maddie with them.
- As a given name it is genuinely recent — a few decades, not a few centuries. If you want a name with deep family or historical roots, the surname is old but the first-name tradition is young.
Samara
Strengths
- Ready-made short forms that need no explaining: Sam, Sammy, Mara.
- The spelling is an existing English word, so it can be written down from hearing it more often than most three-syllable names.
- Recognizable in Arabic, Russian, Spanish and Portuguese contexts, which travels well across a mixed family.
To consider
- The stress is genuinely unsettled — suh-MAR-uh and SAM-uh-ruh both circulate. Expect to correct people occasionally, and to hear it said your way only after you have said it first.
- Samara Morgan is the child at the center of the 2002 horror film The Ring. The association means less to younger people than to those who saw it at the time, but it does exist.
- It sits close to Samira, Samantha and Sahara in the ear, so mishearings and near-miss spellings are likely on forms and roll calls.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Madisson
67%chance Madisson feels dated by 2040
Madisson 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.
Samara
40%chance Samara feels dated by 2040
Samara 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 Madisson and Samara 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 Madisson and Samara?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Madisson and Samara — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Madisson or Samara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Madisson or Samara?
- Madisson, in 2025: Madisson ranked #319 with 958 babies; Samara ranked #320 with 957 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Madisson or Samara?
- Madisson. Over the last five years Madisson moved up 2,455 places; Samara moved up 31 places.
- Which is the older name, Madisson or Samara?
- Madisson entered the US charts in 1989; Samara entered the US charts in 1949. On the American record, Samara is the older name.
- How many people are named Madisson and Samara?
- About 2,700 people named Madisson are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,500 people named Samara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Madissons or Samaras in the classroom?
- Madisson will almost certainly be the only one in school. Samara 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Madisson, Samara and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap