Madison

Where Madison comes from

Usually derived from Mathieson (Matthew + -son), occasionally from Middle English Maddy (“Maud”) + -son. In the movie Splash, its use as a given name derives from Manhattan’s Madison Avenue.
— Wiktionary's entry for Madison
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1970
    First appearance
    #7,995 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1984
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1995
    Madison Keys born
    US American tennis player
  4. 1999
    Madison Beer born
    American singer
  5. 2001
    Peak, #2
    22,166 babies named Madison — more than any year before or since.
  6. 2013
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #9.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
  • A female given name transferred from the surname, popular since 1984 when it appeared as the name of a mermaid in the film Splash.
Namesakes
  • Madison Beer · American singer, born 1999
  • Madison Keys · US American tennis player, born 1995
  • Madison Iseman · American actress, born 1997
  • Madison Pettis · American actress, born 1998
  • Madison Brengle · American tennis player, born 1990

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.