Madison
Madison is a girls' name of English origin meaning “son of Matthew, gift of God.” It ranked #30 in the United States in 2025. Originally an English surname meaning 'son of Maud/Matthew.
how do you pronounce Madison?
MAD-ih-sun
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Madison mean?
The name Madison means “son of Matthew, gift of God.” It comes from the English language tradition.
Originally an English surname meaning 'son of Maud/Matthew.' Its use as a girl's name exploded after the 1984 film 'Splash,' in which a mermaid chooses the name from a New York street sign.
where does the name Madison come from?
An English patronymic surname meaning son of Maud, from the medieval Maud or Matilda, though son of Matthew is also proposed. Either way the underlying sense is a surname of descent, and its literal masculine meaning sits oddly with its almost exclusively feminine modern use.
the history of Madison
James Madison, fourth president and principal drafter of the American constitution, gave the surname its standing, and Madison Avenue and the Wisconsin capital both honour him. Its conversion to a girls' name has an unusually precise origin: the 1984 film Splash, in which a mermaid takes the name from the street sign. It reached the American top ten by 1997.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2024 | #30 |
| 2023 | #28 |
| 2022 | #26 |
| 2021 | #24 |
| 2020 | #22 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Madison?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Madison?
- President James Madison
- Madison (character in Splash)
what names are similar to Madison?
what names go well with Madison?
Sibling names that share Madison's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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