Madelyn
Feminine name of English origin meaning "woman of Magdala".
Name Census estimates that about 102,686 living Americans carry the first name Madelyn. It sits at #65 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madelyn today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madelyn births was 2008 (4,571 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Skylar (102,403).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madelyn. 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 Madelyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Madelyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
103K
~ 1 in 3,338 Americans
Peak year
2008
4,571 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#65
Tracked since 1890
Census
Madelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 82,370 people with the first name Madelyn, which placed it at #643 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
#643
National first-name rank
People counted
82K
82,370 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
27.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madelyn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Madelyn 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 Madelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 64,421
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 10,699
- Two or more races4.2% · 3,461
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 1,905
- Black or African American1.9% · 1,593
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 291
Gender
Gender distribution for Madelyn
Out of the 112,677 babies given the name Madelyn since 1880, 100.0% 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.
Madelyn as a male name
- Ranked #10,491 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (14 births)
Madelyn as a female name
- Ranked #65 in 2024
- 3,364 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (4,566 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 82,365 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Madelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madelyn from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 39,205 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Madelyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madelyn 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 Madelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Madelyn, while Wyoming, District of Columbia, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,115 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madelyn
The name Madelyn is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the Old French form Madeleine, which in turn comes from the ancient Aramaic name Magdalena. The earliest known use of the name dates back to the 12th century in England.
Magdalena was the name given to Mary Magdalene, a prominent figure in the New Testament of the Bible. She was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ and was present at his crucifixion and resurrection. The name Magdalena means "woman from Magdala," a town on the Sea of Galilee in ancient Israel.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Madelyn appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. Here, the name is spelled "Maddalen."
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Madelyn was Madelyn Blossom, an English courtier and mistress of King Henry VIII in the 16th century. She was known for her beauty and wit, and was a prominent figure in the Tudor court.
Another notable Madelyn was Madelyn Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623-1673), an English aristocrat, writer, and philosopher. She was a prominent figure in the literary and scientific circles of her time and published numerous works on various subjects.
In the 19th century, Madelyn Fairfax (1828-1908) was an American author and activist who wrote extensively on women's rights and social issues. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and worked tirelessly to promote equality and education for women.
Madelyn Renault (1900-1983) was a French actress and singer who rose to fame in the early 20th century. She was known for her roles in numerous films and stage productions, and her unique vocal style made her a popular cabaret performer in Paris.
Madelyn Kahn (1942-1999) was an American actress renowned for her comedic talents. She starred in numerous successful films, including Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, and Clue, and was widely praised for her versatility and impeccable timing.
People
Madelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madelyn 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
Madelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102,686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madelyn 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 3,338 US residents.
Is Madelyn a common name?
We classify Madelyn as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112,677 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Madelyn was 2008, when 4,571 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madelyn is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 82,370 people with the name Madelyn, or 27.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #643 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 Madelyn 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 Madelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madelyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 82,365 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Madelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madelyn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Madelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (64,421 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 Madelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madelyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madelyn 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 Madelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madelyn 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 Madelyn 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 share the name Madelyn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.