Madora
A feminine name derived from Greek roots, meaning "gift of the mother".
Name Census estimates that about 63 living Americans carry the first name Madora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madora today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madora births was 1922 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madora. 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 Madora is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Madoras were born before 1963.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Madora. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
63
~ 1 in 5,440,545 Americans
Peak year
1922
16 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1991 SSA rank
#14,478
Tracked since 1880
Census
Madora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 223 people with the first name Madora, which placed it at #35,856 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
#35,856
National first-name rank
People counted
223
223 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madora is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Madora 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 Madora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.6% · 133
- Black or African American21.5% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 24
- Two or more races4.0% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
Popularity
Madora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madora from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 101 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
Madora 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 Madora 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 Madora
The name Madora has its roots in the ancient Semitic languages, originating from the region known as Phoenicia, located along the eastern Mediterranean coast. It is believed to have derived from the Phoenician word "madar," which means "to embellish" or "to adorn." The name's earliest known use dates back to the 8th century BCE, during the height of the Phoenician civilization.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Madora can be found in the Phoenician inscriptions discovered in the ruins of Carthage, an ancient city founded by Phoenician settlers in modern-day Tunisia. These inscriptions suggest that Madora was a relatively common name among the Phoenician people, often bestowed upon young women as a symbol of grace and beauty.
As Phoenician culture and trade routes expanded across the Mediterranean region, the name Madora likely spread to other ancient civilizations, including the Greeks and Romans. However, its usage remained relatively obscure until the Middle Ages, when it resurfaced in various parts of Europe.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Madora was Madora of Lisbon, a 12th-century Portuguese noblewoman renowned for her philanthropy and support of the arts. She was instrumental in the construction of several churches and monasteries in the city of Lisbon, leaving a lasting legacy in the region's architectural heritage.
During the Renaissance period, the name Madora gained popularity among Italian aristocratic families. One such individual was Madora Visconti, a 15th-century noblewoman from the powerful Visconti family of Milan. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in shaping the cultural landscape of the Italian Renaissance.
In the 17th century, the name Madora made its way to the Americas through Spanish and Portuguese colonization. One notable figure was Madora de la Cruz, a Spanish-born settler in the territory of what is now Mexico, who played a significant role in the establishment of early colonial settlements and the preservation of indigenous cultures.
Another historical figure bearing the name Madora was Madora Pemberton, an English-born woman who migrated to the American colonies in the late 18th century. She was a prominent figure in the early abolitionist movement, advocating for the rights of enslaved people and working towards their emancipation.
Throughout history, the name Madora has been borne by individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds and geographical regions, each leaving their unique imprint on the annals of human civilization.
People
Madora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madora 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
Madora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 63 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madora 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 5,440,545 US residents.
Is Madora a common name?
We classify Madora as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 356 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madora most popular?
The single biggest year for Madora was 1922, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madora is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 223 people with the name Madora, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,856 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 Madora 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 Madora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madora appears almost entirely female. Of the 220 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 Madora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madora is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Black (21.5%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Madora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.6% (133 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 Madora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madora a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madora 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 Madora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madora 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 Madora 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 the name Madora?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.