Madysen
Feminine · “son of Maud”
Madysen is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 2,703 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Madison became a girl's name because of a joke in a film. A mermaid walking up Madison Avenue picks the street name for herself, and the man with her laughs and says it is not a name. Within a decade it was one of the most given names in the country.
How old is the name Madysen?
Madysen first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Madysen alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 2,700 people named Madysen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Madysen most popular?
Madysen peaked in 2002, reaching #1098 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,834 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Maud to Madysen
The story of Madysen
The film was released in 1984 and the line was written as a joke, on the assumption that the audience would find the idea absurd. Registrars did not. The name went from almost unused to the top of the American charts inside fifteen years, one of the fastest and best-documented rises on record, and every respelling followed: Madisyn, Maddisen, Madysen, Madycin. Underneath is a plain English surname with a genuinely odd derivation. Patronymic surnames almost always name a father; this one names a mother, which happened when a woman was the more notable parent or the father was unknown, and Maud was common enough to produce several such names.
Meaningscholars disagree
son of Maud
An English surname, usually read as a patronymic from Maud, the medieval English form of Matilda — so it means son of a woman, which is unusual and is why it is worth stating plainly. A derivation from Matthew has also been proposed. Neither is settled.
How the name formed
- Maud
- Madison
- Madysen
Pronouncing Madysen
MAD-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Madison, Madisyn and Madysen are said identically; the two unstressed vowels carry almost no sound, which is why they can be spelled any way at all.
Nicknames for Madysen
Moderate
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
- 1990
- Most girls named
- 2002193 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1098reached in 2002
- Change vs 2022
- −41.7%7 in 2025, from 12
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.
Madysen in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Wisconsin.
Madysens among us
people named Madysen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Madysen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Madysen
- #11932
- Madysen on the 2025 chart
- #941
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Madysen went to 7 girls in 2025, but Madisen is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 19, which makes it the 941st most-given girls’ name of the year — 10,991 places above the chart.
- Madisen12
- Madysen7
About 1 girl in 84,593 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 229,610 for Madysen 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 Madolyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Madysen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Madolyn climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Madolyn's path sketches the road Madysen is walking now.
Madysen 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
Madysen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Madysen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three syllables with a firm opening stress that carries well.
- Maddie works immediately and needs no explanation.
- The origin is documented down to a specific film and year, which few names can offer.
- Madison is far commoner and at least four respellings compete, so it will be spelled out constantly.
- It was one of the most given names in the country for two decades, which places the bearer in time.
- The few boys given this spelling will be read as girls on paper, which reverses the surname's history.
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What they receive
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Madysen
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Madysens 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 Madysen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Madysen?
- Madysen is one of 2 recorded spellings. Madisen is the more common one — 12 births in 2025 against 7 for Madysen.
- How popular is the name Madysen in 2025?
- Madysen ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Madysen?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Madysen — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Madysen with classmates?
- Madysen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Madysen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Madysen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Madysen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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