Modena
Feminine
Modena is an Italian city and also exactly the shape of a great many names American families built in the eighteen-eighties, and the record does not say which any household meant. The city's most famous product is two products sold under one name.
How old is the name Modena?
Modena first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Modena alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 100 people named Modena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Modena most popular?
Modena peaked in 1882, reaching #908 nationally. See the whole 1882 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Modena
Two quite different things are sold as balsamic vinegar of Modena. The traditional kind is made from cooked grape must, aged for a minimum of twelve years and often twenty-five, moved down a battery of barrels of decreasing size and different woods as it evaporates and concentrates; the barrels are family property and are passed down. The result is thick, sweet, costs as much as a decent whisky, and is used in drops. The other kind, which is what almost everyone has in a cupboard, is wine vinegar with concentrated grape must and often caramel coloring, aged for a couple of months, made industrially and protected by a different and much weaker designation. Both are legally balsamic vinegar of Modena. The labels differ by a single word, and the products differ by a factor of about fifty in price.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Italian city's name is Roman, from Mutina, and what that meant before it was a town is not recoverable. As an American build it is a free front and a familiar ending and means nothing. Nothing in the record separates the two.
Pronouncing Modena
moh-DEE-nuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle in American use. Italian puts it on the first syllable and says MAW-deh-nah, which is a noticeably different name.
Nicknames for Modena
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
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 191432 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #908reached in 1882
- Change vs 1955
- +60.0%8 in 1958, from 5
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.
Modenas among us
people named Modena are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Modena sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Middle stress on three syllables is the easiest rhythm English offers.
- Dena detaches cleanly and is a complete name.
- It is genuinely rare and belongs to almost nobody now living.
- Madonna, Modene and Modina will all be written for it.
- Italian and English stress it in different places.
- Nothing records which of the two possible origins applies.
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Modena
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Modenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Modena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Modena in 2025?
- Modena is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Modena with classmates?
- Modena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Modena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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