Madeline
A feminine name of French origin meaning "woman from Magdala".
Name Census estimates that about 151,548 living Americans carry the first name Madeline. It sits at #87 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madeline today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madeline births was 1998 (5,869 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Brett (151,534).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madeline. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Madeline is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 245 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
152K
~ 1 in 2,262 Americans
Peak year
1998
5,869 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2018 SSA rank
#87
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Madeline
Out of the 204,520 babies given the name Madeline since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Madeline as a male name
- Ranked #13,396 in 2018
- 5 male births in 2018
- Peak: 2004 (17 births)
Madeline as a female name
- Ranked #87 in 2024
- 2,907 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (5,869 births)
Popularity
Madeline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madeline from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48,361 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madeline 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 Madeline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madelines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Madeline, while Wyoming, Alaska, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,805 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madeline
The name Madeline derives from the Germanic roots 'mat' meaning 'powerful' and 'hild' meaning 'battle'. It is closely related to the name Matilda. The earliest known use of the name Madeline dates back to the 7th century in areas of modern-day Germany and France.
As the name evolved over the centuries, common spellings included Madeleine, Madelon, Madelin, and Madelyn. The French form Madeleine gained popularity after the biblical figure Mary Magdalene, whose name means 'woman from Magdala'. In some Christian traditions, she is associated with perfume and is considered the patron saint of perfumers, hairdressers, and converts.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Madeline comes from a 12th-century French epic poem called 'The Song of Roland'. The poem features a character named Aude, who was the betrothed of the hero Roland. Some scholars believe her name may have been a form of Madeline.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Madeline. Madeline de Verchères (1678-1747) was a French-Canadian heroine who defended a fort against an Iroquois attack at the age of 14. Madeline Albright (1937-2022) was the first female United States Secretary of State, serving under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001.
Madeline Miller (born 1978) is a contemporary American novelist best known for her works 'The Song of Achilles' and 'Circe', which reimagine classical Greek mythology. Madeline Kahn (1942-1999) was an American actress and comedian renowned for her roles in films such as 'Paper Moon' and 'Young Frankenstein'.
Madeline L'Engle (1918-2007) was an American writer who authored the classic children's book 'A Wrinkle in Time', which won the Newbery Medal in 1963. The book's protagonist, a young girl named Meg Murry, has a younger brother named Charles Wallace who affectionately calls her 'Madeline'.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Madeline
People
Madeline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madeline 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
Madeline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madeline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 151,548 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madeline 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 2,262 US residents.
Is Madeline a common name?
We classify Madeline as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 204,520 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madeline most popular?
The single biggest year for Madeline was 1998, when 5,869 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madeline is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Madeline a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Madeline 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.
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.