Madeliene
A French feminine name meaning "woman from Magdala" or "exalted woman".
Name Census estimates that about 359 living Americans carry the first name Madeliene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madeliene today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madeliene births was 1996 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madeliene. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Madeliene with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
359
~ 1 in 954,747 Americans
Peak year
1996
20 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,055
Tracked since 1910
Census
Madeliene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 588 people with the first name Madeliene, which placed it at #18,347 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,347
National first-name rank
People counted
588
588 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madeliene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madeliene is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Madeliene described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Madeliene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.8% · 387
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 100
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 45
- Black or African American4.6% · 27
- Two or more races4.4% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Madeliene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madeliene from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 138 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Madeliene remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madeliene by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Madeliene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madelienes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Madeliene
The name Madeliene has its origins in the medieval Germanic language and is derived from the Germanic root "Madel," meaning "maiden" or "virgin." This root eventually evolved into the Old French form "Madeleine," which was later adopted into English as Madeliene.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Madeliene can be found in the Bible, where it was used for Mary Magdalene, a prominent figure in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and is often depicted as a repentant sinner who witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.
In the Middle Ages, the name Madeliene gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and England. It was often associated with religious devotion and piety, influenced by the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene. Notable historical figures who bore the name Madeliene include Madeleine de Scudéry (1607-1701), a prominent French writer and intellectual during the reign of Louis XIV.
During the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods, the name Madeliene continued to be used, often among aristocratic and intellectual circles. One famous bearer of the name was Madeleine de Souvré, Marquise de Sablé (1599-1678), a French writer and influential salonnière who hosted one of the most renowned literary salons in Paris.
In more recent history, the name Madeliene has been carried by several notable figures, such as Madeleine Albright (1937-2022), the first female United States Secretary of State, who served under President Bill Clinton. Another prominent Madeliene was Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007), an American writer best known for her classic children's novel "A Wrinkle in Time."
Additionally, Madeliene Vionnet (1876-1975) was a renowned French fashion designer who revolutionized the way women's clothing was designed and constructed, while Madeleine Pauliac (1912-1998) was a French resistance fighter during World War II, known for her bravery and commitment to the cause of liberation.
These examples illustrate the enduring popularity and cultural significance of the name Madeliene throughout history, spanning various fields and eras.
People
Madeliene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madeliene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Madeliene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madeliene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madeliene going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 954,747 US residents.
Is Madeliene a common name?
We classify Madeliene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madeliene most popular?
The single biggest year for Madeliene was 1996, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madeliene is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madeliene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 588 people with the name Madeliene, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,347 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Madeliene in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Madeliene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madeliene appears almost entirely female. Of the 593 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Madeliene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madeliene is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Madeliene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madeliene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (387 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Madeliene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madeliene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madeliene in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Madeliene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madeliene in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Madeliene can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Madeliene?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.