Meaning and history
This name comes from the English surname Madison, meaning “son of Matthew” or “son of Maud.” It was rarely used as a feminine name until after the 1984 film Splash, in which the main character chose it after seeing a street sign for Madison Avenue in New York City. By 2001 it had become the second-ranked girls’ name in the United States, a rise from obscurity in just 18 years that represented a 550,000 percent increase in usage. A notable bearer of the surname was James Madison (1751–1836), one of the authors of the American constitution who later served as president, and for whom Madison Avenue was named.
20062006: 18,635 births, rank #3
2007: 17,968 births, rank #5
2008: 17,047 births, rank #6
2009: 15,257 births, rank #7
2010: 13,196 births, rank #8
20112011: 12,406 births, rank #8
2012: 11,417 births, rank #9
2013: 10,605 births, rank #9
2014: 10,333 births, rank #9
2015: 10,107 births, rank #11
20162016: 9,057 births, rank #15
2017: 7,910 births, rank #17
2018: 7,103 births, rank #22
2019: 6,304 births, rank #26
2020: 6,253 births, rank #23
20212021: 5,964 births, rank #29
2022: 5,507 births, rank #34
2023: 5,179 births, rank #37
2024: 4,581 births, rank #45
20252025: 4,945 births, rank #40
Madison has made a dramatic comeback. After first appearing in the US records in 1985, it fell to #625 by 1985, before climbing to #40 in 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 2001, with 22,166 births.