Maddison
Feminine · “son of Maud”
Maddison is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 24,063 girls against 53 boys since 1880.
Maddison began as an English surname, the double-d spelling still found in the north of England, and it means roughly "son of Maud" — a medieval woman's name preserved inside what looks like a modern one. In America the surname turned into a girl's first name after the 1984 comedy Splash, in which a mermaid chooses her name from a Manhattan street sign. The extra d gives it a slightly firmer landing in print while leaving the sound untouched.
How old is the name Maddison?
Maddison first appears in US birth records in 1985 — 40 years ago. The typical Maddison alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 24,000 people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maddison most popular?
Maddison peaked in 2009, reaching #281 nationally. Today it ranks #438, 157 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Maddison appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Matilda to Maddison
The story of Maddison
The surname Maddison is recorded in medieval England, concentrated in Durham and Northumberland, formed the ordinary way — a first name plus "son". It stayed a surname for centuries, worn in Britain and carried to America, where the single-d Madison also became a well-known political and street name. The leap to a girl's given name came through the 1984 film Splash, whose mermaid takes her name from Madison Avenue; American parents took up the idea within a few years, and the double-d spelling arrived alongside it, reinforced by its steady life as a surname in Britain and Australia.
Meaningscholars disagree
son of Maud
The surname comes from a medieval pet form, Madde, plus "son". Surname scholars disagree over which name Madde stood for: most read it as Maud (from Matilda), while others allow Magdalen or the men's name Matthew. All three readings are serious; the "son of Maud" line is the most widely given.
How the name formed
- Matilda
- Maud
- Madde
- Maddison
Related forms: Madison · Madisyn · Maddison
Pronouncing Maddison
MAD-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The doubled d changes nothing about how it is said — Maddison and Madison are heard identically.
Nicknames for Maddison
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1985
- Most girls named
- 20091,167 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #281reached in 2009
- Change vs 2024
- +11.9%703 in 2025, from 628
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maddison in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Madison in English (US) — spelling variant
- Madisyn in English (US) — spelling variant
- Maddison in English (UK, Australia) — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Maddisons among us
people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,286 born in 2025 was named Maddison
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Maddison
- #438
- Maddison on the 2025 chart
- #34
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Maddison went to 703 girls in 2025, but Madison and Madyson are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 5,751, which makes it the 34th most-given girls’ name of the year — 404 places above the chart.
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 279 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,286 for Maddison itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Sybil test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Maddison's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sybil climbed just as high around 1919, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sybil's path sketches the road Maddison is walking now.
Maddison 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Maddison is headed
Maddison should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Maddison beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Maddison in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Pronounced correctly on sight by nearly everyone, since the sound is already familiar from the surname and the single-d spelling.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Maddie, that has been in use for generations and also works as a name on its own.
- A genuine English surname with a documented medieval record, not a modern coinage.
- Recognized in Britain and Australia in exactly this spelling, so it travels within the English-speaking world.
- The single-d Madison is the spelling most Americans assume, so expect a lifetime of gentle correction on forms, emails and coffee cups.
- Maddie is shared with Madeline, Madelyn, Madison and more, so the nickname will be far more crowded than the full name — worth knowing if the appeal is rarity.
- Almost everyone carrying it is still young, which ties the name fairly clearly to one stretch of time rather than to a long line of grandmothers and great-aunts.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Maddison to the vote.
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What they receive
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Maddison
Feminine · #438 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Maddisons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 24,000 people named Maddison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Maddison?
- Maddison is one of 3 recorded spellings. Madison is the more common one — 4,945 births in 2025 against 703 for Maddison.
- How popular is the name Maddison in 2025?
- Maddison ranks #438 among US girl names in 2025, with 703 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Maddison?
- About 1 in every 2,286 US girls born in 2025 was named Maddison — 703 in all.
- Will my child share the name Maddison with classmates?
- Maddison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Maddison
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Macie#438 · Hayden#437 · Payton#440 · Lyra#435 · Lorelei#441 · Salem#435 · Gracelynn#442 · Vienna#434
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maddison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Maddison and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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