Madalynn
A feminine given name of Old German origin meaning "woman from Magdala".
Name Census estimates that about 9,046 living Americans carry the first name Madalynn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madalynn today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madalynn births was 2009 (557 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madalynn. 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 Madalynn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Madalynn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.0K
~ 1 in 37,890 Americans
Peak year
2009
557 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,172
Tracked since 1921
Census
Madalynn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,704 people with the first name Madalynn, which placed it at #3,211 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
#3,211
National first-name rank
People counted
6.7K
6,704 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madalynn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madalynn is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Madalynn 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 Madalynn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.9% · 5,357
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 777
- Two or more races5.2% · 347
- Black or African American1.8% · 118
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 47
Popularity
Madalynn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madalynn from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,007 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madalynn 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 Madalynn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madalynns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Madalynn, while Wyoming, New Mexico, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 187 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madalynn
The name Madalynn is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the combination of the Hebrew name "Magdalene" and the English suffix "-ynn." The name Magdalene itself is believed to have originated from the Hebrew words "migdal" (tower) and "eden" (delight), suggesting the meaning "tower of delight" or "woman from Magdala."
The earliest known use of the name Madalynn can be traced back to the 19th century in English-speaking countries. It gained popularity as a variant spelling of the more traditional name "Madeline" or "Madeleine," which has French roots and was popularized by the famous novel "Madeleine" by French author Ludwig Bemelmans.
While there are no direct historical references to the name Madalynn in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Magdalene has Biblical connections. Mary Magdalene was a prominent figure in the New Testament, often referred to as one of Jesus Christ's closest followers. Her name and story have been widely celebrated in Christian traditions throughout history.
Some notable individuals who bore the name Madalynn include Madalynn Monahan (born 1946), an American actress known for her roles in TV series like "Starsky and Hutch" and "Charlie's Angels." Madalynn Pavlick (born 1923 - died 2018) was an American artist and painter, known for her landscape and still-life works. Madalynn Hiratzka (born 1953) is a Canadian curler who won multiple championships in the sport.
Another famous Madalynn was Madalynn Murray O'Hair (1919 - 1995), an American activist who was a prominent figure in the atheist movement and played a crucial role in the landmark Supreme Court case that banned mandatory prayer in public schools. Madalynn Arndt (born 1938) is an American social psychologist and professor emerita at the University of Missouri, known for her research on interpersonal relationships and social cognition.
While the name Madalynn may not have a long historical lineage, its unique spelling and connection to the more traditional name "Magdalene" have contributed to its enduring appeal and usage over the past centuries.
People
Madalynn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madalynn 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
Madalynn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madalynn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,046 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madalynn 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 37,890 US residents.
Is Madalynn a common name?
We classify Madalynn as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madalynn most popular?
The single biggest year for Madalynn was 2009, when 557 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madalynn is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madalynn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,704 people with the name Madalynn, or 2.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,211 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 Madalynn 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 Madalynn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madalynn appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,707 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Madalynn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madalynn is White at 79.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.6%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Madalynn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madalynn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (5,357 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 Madalynn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madalynn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madalynn 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 Madalynn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madalynn 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 Madalynn 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 are called Madalynn?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.