Madyan
A masculinename of Arabic origin meaning "land of passage".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Madyan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Madyan today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madyan births was 2018 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madyan. 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 Madyan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Madyan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2018
7 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,342
Tracked since 2018
Popularity
Madyan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Madyan 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 Madyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Madyan
The given name Madyan is derived from the Arabic language and has its origins in the Quran, the central religious text of Islam. It is believed to be a reference to the ancient town of Madyan, which is mentioned in the Quran and is associated with the Prophet Shuaib.
In the Quran, the people of Madyan are described as a community who rejected the teachings of Prophet Shuaib and were subsequently destroyed by a natural disaster as a punishment for their disbelief. The name Madyan is therefore deeply rooted in the Islamic religious tradition and holds significant symbolic meaning for Muslims.
The earliest recorded use of the name Madyan can be traced back to the 7th century CE, during the time of the Prophet Muhammad and the revelation of the Quran. It is possible that some of the early followers of Islam adopted the name Madyan as a way of honoring the story of Prophet Shuaib and the people of Madyan.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Madyan. One of the earliest known figures was Madyan ibn Abi Sufyan (born around 630 CE), a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a prominent military leader during the early Islamic conquests.
Another notable bearer of the name was Madyan al-Nabulsi (1641-1718), a renowned Sufi scholar and poet from Damascus, who wrote extensively on Islamic mysticism and spiritual practices.
In more recent times, Madyan al-Jahni (1889-1969) was a prominent Saudi Arabian politician and diplomat who served as the first ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the United States in the 1940s.
Madyan Abdallah (1933-2012) was a Sudanese writer and academic who made significant contributions to the study of Arabic literature and Islamic thought.
Madyan Yazdani (born 1964) is an Iranian-American artist and sculptor known for his large-scale public installations and works that explore themes of identity, migration, and cultural fusion.
It is worth noting that while the name Madyan has deep historical and religious connections, its usage has not been limited to any particular geographic region or cultural group. It has been adopted by Muslims across various parts of the world, reflecting the global reach and impact of Islamic culture and traditions.
People
Madyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madyan 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
Madyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madyan 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Madyan a common name?
We classify Madyan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Madyan was 2018, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madyan is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Madyan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madyan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madyan in the SSA data are male. 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 Madyan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madyan 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 Madyan 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Madyan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.