Madolyn
Combination of feminine name "Madeleine," meaning "high tower," and variant Evelyn, meaning "wished for child."
Name Census estimates that about 899 living Americans carry the first name Madolyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madolyn today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madolyn births was 1921 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madolyn. 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.
People living today
899
~ 1 in 381,262 Americans
Peak year
1921
45 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,475
Tracked since 1896
Popularity
Madolyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madolyn from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 300 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
Madolyn 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 Madolyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madolyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Madolyn, while Tennessee, Michigan, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madolyn
The name Madolyn is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, though it is believed to be derived from various Old English and Old French roots. One theory suggests that it may be a combination of the Old English elements "mæd" (meaning "meadow") and "lind" (meaning "soft, tender, or linden tree").
Another possibility is that Madolyn is a variant of the Old French name Madeleine, which itself evolved from the ancient Hebrew name Migdal, meaning "tower" or "fortress." In this interpretation, Madolyn could be a diminutive form or a later evolution of Madeleine.
The name Madolyn may also have connections to the Latin name Magdalena, which was derived from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. This connection could suggest a religious or spiritual connotation for the name.
Historical records indicate that the name Madolyn was in use as early as the 12th century, particularly in England and parts of France. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Madolyn de Montfort, a 12th-century noblewoman from the House of Montfort-l'Amaury in France.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Madolyn. These include Madolyn Avery (1919-2004), an American actress and singer; Madolyn Smith Osborne (1890-1935), an American novelist and poet; Madolyn Pugh (1917-2011), an American screenwriter best known for her work on the sitcom "I Love Lucy"; Madolyn Landry (born 1938), a Canadian singer and actress; and Madolyn Murray O'Hair (1919-1995), an American activist and founder of the organization American Atheists.
While the name Madolyn has undergone various spellings and transformations over the centuries, it has endured as a unique and captivating feminine name with a rich history and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Madolyn
People
Madolyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madolyn 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
Madolyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madolyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 899 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madolyn 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 381,262 US residents.
Is Madolyn a common name?
We classify Madolyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,743 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madolyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Madolyn was 1921, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madolyn is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Madolyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madolyn 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.