Madie
A feminine diminutive of Maud or Matilda, derived from the Germanic elements "maht" (might) and "hild" (battle).
Name Census estimates that about 468 living Americans carry the first name Madie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Madie today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Madie births was 1915 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Madie. 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 Madie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
468
~ 1 in 732,381 Americans
Peak year
1915
103 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,175
Tracked since 1880
Census
Madie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,006 people with the first name Madie, which placed it at #12,387 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
#12,387
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,006 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Madie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madie is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Madie 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 Madie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.8% · 602
- Black or African American28.6% · 288
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 61
- Two or more races3.3% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 8
Popularity
Madie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Madie from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 743 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Madie 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 Madie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Madies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Madie, while Virginia, Oklahoma, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 106 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Madie
The name Madie is a diminutive form of the name Madeline, which has its roots in the Germanic name Matilda or Mahthildis. The name Matilda is derived from the Old High German elements "maht" meaning "might" or "strength" and "hild" meaning "battle". This name was popular among the Franks and Saxons during the Middle Ages.
The name Madeline gained popularity in France during the 12th century, where it was influenced by the Latin word "Magdalena", referring to Mary Magdalene from the Bible. In French, the name was spelled as "Madeleine". The diminutive form "Madie" emerged as a shorter and more casual variant of Madeline.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Madie dates back to the 14th century. Madie de Courtenay was a French noblewoman who lived from 1345 to 1404. She was the daughter of Peter I, Duke of Bourbon, and played a significant role in the political affairs of her time.
Another notable Madie was Madie Odell (1679-1743), an English actress who performed in various plays during the 18th century. She was known for her roles in comedies and was considered a talented actress of her time.
In the 19th century, Madie Donohoe (1835-1891) was an Irish-American actress and playwright. She was born in Ireland but gained fame in the United States for her performances in various theaters, particularly in New York City.
Madie Norwood (1876-1959) was an American singer and vaudeville performer who rose to prominence in the early 20th century. She was known for her powerful voice and her ability to captivate audiences with her performances.
Madie Norman (1901-1998) was a British actress and dancer who appeared in several films and stage productions. She was particularly known for her roles in musical comedies and her dancing skills.
While the name Madie is not as common today as it once was, it has a rich history that spans several centuries and cultures. From French noblewomen to talented actresses and performers, the name Madie has been carried by many remarkable individuals throughout history.
People
Madie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Madie 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
Madie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Madie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 468 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Madie 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 732,381 US residents.
Is Madie a common name?
We classify Madie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,169 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Madie most popular?
The single biggest year for Madie was 1915, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Madie is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Madie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,006 people with the name Madie, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,387 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 Madie 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 Madie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Madie appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,009 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 Madie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Madie is White at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Hispanic (6.1%). 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 Madie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Madie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.8% (602 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 Madie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Madie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Madie 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 Madie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Madie 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 Madie 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 Madie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.