Madisson
Feminine · “son of Madde”
Behind this spelling stands one of the great English surname-to-first-name journeys: Madison, a medieval patronymic that spent centuries as a family name before American parents began giving it to daughters in the 1980s. The doubled s is a newer touch, one letter added to a sound almost everyone already knows how to say. Three even syllables, and a short form — Maddie — that has been in use since long before the full name was.
How old is the name Madisson?
Madisson first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Madisson is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,700 people named Madisson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Madisson most popular?
Madisson peaked in 2025, reaching #319 nationally. Today it ranks #319, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Matilda to Madisson
The story of Madisson
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. The turn toward girls came with the 1984 film Splash, in which a mermaid picks her name off a street sign on Madison Avenue — a joke in the script that parents took seriously. Madisson is one of several respellings that followed, keeping the sound intact and giving the middle of the word an extra consonant.
Meaningscholars disagree
"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.
How the name formed
- Matilda
- Maud
- Madde
- Madison
- Madisson
Related forms: Madison · Maddison · Madisyn · Madyson
Pronouncing Madisson
MAD-i-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The doubled s changes nothing about the sound — it is said exactly as Madison is.
Nicknames for Madisson
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
- 1989
- Most girls named
- 2025958 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #319reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +371.9%958 in 2025, from 203
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.
Madisson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Madison in English (US) — spelling variant
- Maddison in English (UK, Australia) — spelling variant
- Madisyn in English (US) — spelling variant
- Madyson in English (US) — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Madissons among us
people named Madisson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,678 born in 2025 was named Madisson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The James test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Madisson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: James climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and James's path sketches the road Madisson is walking now.
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.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Madisson is headed
Madisson is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 67% more babies given the name than today. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Madisson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Madisson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- The rare spelling means a child is very unlikely to share it with a classmate, even in a large school.
- 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.
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What they receive
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Madisson
Feminine · #319 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Madissons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Madisson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Madisson in 2025?
- Madisson ranks #319 among US girl names in 2025, with 958 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Madisson?
- About 1 in every 1,678 US girls born in 2025 was named Madisson — 958 in all.
- Will my child share the name Madisson with classmates?
- Madisson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Madisson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frances#318 · Samara#320 · Sabrina#321 · Gabriela#317 · Colette#316 · Marley#322 · Amina#315 · Kali#323
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Madisson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Madisson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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