Medieval English surname meaning "son of Maud" or "son of Matthew" — son of maud. Effectively invented as a girl's first name by the 1984 film Splash.
Madison ranks 40th among American girls in 2025, with 4,963 born that year. Its best year was 2001, when 22,292 babies were given the name, ranking 2nd. The typical living American called Madison is about 21 years old today. It is relatively most common in Vermont, where it accounts for 0.41% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.