Madine
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "city" or "town".
Name Census estimates that about 50 living Americans carry the first name Madine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madine today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madine births was 1926 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madine. 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
- • The typical person named Madine is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Madines were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Madine. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
50
~ 1 in 6,855,087 Americans
Peak year
1926
12 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1964 SSA rank
#6,471
Tracked since 1914
Census
Madine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 175 people with the first name Madine, which placed it at #41,669 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
#41,669
National first-name rank
People counted
175
175 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madine is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (34.3%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Madine 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 Madine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.3% · 88
- Black or African American34.3% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 17
- Two or more races3.4% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Madine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madine from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madine 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 Madine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madine
The name Madine has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the word "madina," which translates to "city" or "town" in Arabic. The name is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Madine can be found in historical records from the 9th century, where it was used to refer to the city of Medina in present-day Saudi Arabia. Medina, also known as Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, holds significant importance in Islamic history as the city where Prophet Muhammad and his followers established the first Muslim community.
During the Islamic Golden Age, which spanned from the 8th to the 13th centuries, the name Madine gained popularity among Arab and Muslim communities. It was often given to children as a reference to the holy city of Medina or as a symbol of the urbanization and growth of cities during that period.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Madine. One of the earliest recorded examples is Madine al-Qaisi, a renowned Arab poet who lived in the 7th century and was known for her eloquent verses. Another notable figure is Madine ibn Abi Nasr, a 10th-century Andalusian scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy.
In the 12th century, Madine al-Arabi was a prominent Sufi mystic and philosopher from Andalusia, Spain. His writings on Islamic spirituality and metaphysics had a profound impact on the development of Sufi thought and influenced generations of scholars and mystics.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Madine was also used by several members of the imperial family and nobility. One such figure was Madine Sultan, a 16th-century Ottoman princess who was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of mosques and educational institutions.
In more recent times, the name Madine has been associated with notable figures such as Madine Tallah, a 20th-century Moroccan writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and education in her country.
While the name Madine has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, it has transcended borders and gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly among Muslim communities. Its rich history and connection to the holy city of Medina have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Madine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madine 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
Madine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madine 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 6,855,087 US residents.
Is Madine a common name?
We classify Madine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madine most popular?
The single biggest year for Madine was 1926, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madine is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 175 people with the name Madine, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,669 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 Madine 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 Madine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madine appears almost entirely female. Of the 166 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 Madine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madine is White at 50.3%. The next largest groups are Black (34.3%) and Hispanic (9.7%). 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 Madine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (88 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 Madine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madine 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 Madine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madine 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 Madine 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 have Madine as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.