Madelline
A feminine French name derived from the Hebrew word for "tower".
Name Census estimates that about 151 living Americans carry the first name Madelline. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madelline today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madelline births was 1997 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madelline. 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.
People living today
151
~ 1 in 2,269,896 Americans
Peak year
1997
15 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2020 SSA rank
#16,588
Tracked since 1989
Census
Madelline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 292 people with the first name Madelline, which placed it at #30,039 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
#30,039
National first-name rank
People counted
292
292 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madelline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madelline is Hispanic at 46.9%. The next largest groups are White (45.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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 Madelline 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 Madelline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.9% · 137
- White45.9% · 134
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 11
- Two or more races1.4% · 4
- Black or African American1.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Popularity
Madelline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madelline from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madelline 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 Madelline 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 Madelline
The name Madelline has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, derived from the root words "madal" meaning "mighty" or "powerful" and "lind" meaning "tender" or "soft." This combination of strength and gentleness reflects the duality often associated with the name.
Madelline is a variant spelling of the more common Madeline or Madeleine, which can be traced back to the late 7th century. The earliest recorded use of the name was in reference to St. Madeleine, a French noblewoman who became a follower of Christ and is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church.
In the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and England. One notable bearer of the name was Madeleine de Valois (1520-1537), the daughter of King Francis I of France. Despite her short life, she played a significant role in the political alliances of her time.
During the Renaissance, the name Madelline was associated with the arts and literature. The French novelist and essayist, Madeleine de Scudéry (1607-1701), was a prominent figure in the literary salons of 17th-century Paris and is known for her influential work, "Clélie."
In the 19th century, Madelline gained further recognition through the works of authors like Honoré de Balzac and Leo Tolstoy. Balzac's novel "La Cousine Bette" features a character named Madeleine, while Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" includes a memorable scene involving a young girl named Madeleine.
Other notable historical figures with the name Madelline include Madeleine Albright (1937-2022), the first female United States Secretary of State; Madeleine L'Engle (1918-2007), the acclaimed American writer best known for her children's classic "A Wrinkle in Time"; and Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975), the influential French fashion designer renowned for her innovative dressmaking techniques.
Throughout its long history, the name Madelline has been associated with strength, tenderness, and a connection to the arts and literature. Its enduring popularity across cultures and centuries reflects the timeless appeal of this beautiful and multifaceted name.
People
Madelline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madelline 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
Madelline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madelline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 151 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madelline 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 2,269,896 US residents.
Is Madelline a common name?
We classify Madelline as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 154 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madelline most popular?
The single biggest year for Madelline was 1997, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madelline is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madelline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 292 people with the name Madelline, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,039 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 Madelline 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 Madelline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madelline appears almost entirely female. Of the 291 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Madelline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madelline is Hispanic at 46.9%. The next largest groups are White (45.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.8%). 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 Madelline most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Madelline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.9% (137 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 Madelline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madelline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madelline 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 Madelline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madelline 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 Madelline 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 Madelline?
Want to know how many people share the name Madelline? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.