Madelynn
Feminine
Behind this spelling stands one of the oldest continuously used names in Christian Europe: Magdalene, meaning a woman from Magdala, a fishing town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. French turned it into Madeleine, English into Madeline, and American parents added the -lynn ending that so many names picked up over the twentieth century. The result is a name with a very long history and a very recent coat of paint.
How old is the name Madelynn?
Madelynn first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Madelynn alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 18,500 people named Madelynn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Madelynn most popular?
Madelynn peaked in 2009, reaching #374 nationally. Today it ranks #524, 150 places below that high. See the whole 2009 chart.
Madelynn appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Magdalene to Madelynn
The story of Madelynn
The name begins as a place: Mary Magdalene, named in the Gospels for Magdala on the Sea of Galilee, carried her town's name into every language Christianity reached. Medieval Europe reshaped it constantly — Magdalena in Spain and Germany, Maddalena in Italy, Madeleine in France, which English speakers clipped to Madeline. In American usage the -line ending drifted toward -lyn and -lynn, the same ending that reshaped Carolyn, Evelyn and Jacquelyn, and Madelynn is one result of that drift. So the spelling is recent while the name inside it is close to two thousand years old.
Meaning
of Magdala (a town on the Sea of Galilee)
Magdala's own name comes from a Semitic root meaning tower, so the sense behind the whole line is roughly "woman of the tower town." The -lynn ending is a modern English spelling element rather than part of the original meaning.
How the name formed
- Magdalene
- Magdalena
- Madeleine
- Madeline
- Madelynn
Related forms: Madeleine · Magdalena · Maddalena · Magdalena · Madeline · Magdalini
Pronouncing Madelynn
MAD-uh-lin
Three syllables, stress on the first. Some families say MAD-uh-line, rhyming the ending with "line," which the -lynn spelling slightly discourages but does not rule out.
Nicknames for Madelynn
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
- 1920
- Most girls named
- 2008831 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #374reached in 2009
- Change vs 2023
- −8.0%573 in 2025, from 623
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.
Madelynn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Madeleine in French — related form
- Magdalena in Spanish — related form
- Maddalena in Italian — related form
- Magdalena in German — related form
- Madeline in English — spelling variant
- Magdalini in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio.
Madelynns among us
people named Madelynn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,805 born in 2025 was named Madelynn
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Madelynn
- #524
- Madelynn on the 2025 chart
- #65
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Madelynn went to 573 girls in 2025, but Madelyn and Madelin are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 4,032, which makes it the 65th most-given girls’ name of the year — 459 places above the chart.
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 girl in 399 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 2,805 for Madelynn 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 Zelda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Madelynn's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Zelda climbed just as high around 1911, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Zelda's path sketches the road Madelynn is walking now.
Madelynn 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 Madelynn is headed
Madelynn should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Madelynn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Madelynn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Maddie is an established short form with generations of use behind it, so the everyday name is ready-made and needs no explaining.
- The name inside the spelling is ancient and internationally known, with Magdalena, Madeleine and Maddalena all recognizable relatives abroad.
- Familiar to any American ear on first hearing — no one has to be taught how to say it.
- Long enough for a full formal name and short enough to shorten, which gives a child two registers to work with.
- The spelling competes with Madeline, Madelyn, Madeleine, Madilyn and Madalyn. She will spell it out often, and mail will arrive in at least three versions of it.
- Madelynn herself is uncommon, but Maddie is not — she may share the nickname with a Madison or a Madeline in the same class even if no one shares the full name.
- The -lynn ending reads as a modern American respelling. If you want the older, more classical look, Madeleine or Magdalena sits closer to the source while giving the same nickname.
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What they receive
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Madelynn
Feminine · #524 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Madelynns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 18,500 people named Madelynn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Madelynn?
- Madelynn is one of 3 recorded spellings. Madelyn is the more common one — 3,362 births in 2025 against 573 for Madelynn.
- How popular is the name Madelynn in 2025?
- Madelynn ranks #524 among US girl names in 2025, with 573 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Madelynn?
- About 1 in every 2,805 US girls born in 2025 was named Madelynn — 573 in all.
- Will my child share the name Madelynn with classmates?
- Madelynn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Madelynn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Iyla#525 · Virginia#525 · Marlowe#523 · Amoura#527 · Lottie#527 · Jovie#520 · Amber#520 · Kate#520
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Madelynn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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