How popular is the baby name Madison in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Madison.

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Popularity of the baby name Madison


Posts that mention the name Madison

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2010

For the last few years, the SSA has re-ordered the top 500 (or so) baby names according to rank change.

I decided to do the same sort of analysis, but change two things. First, I focused on the number of babies instead of on rankings. Second, I looked at the entire list, not just the top 500.

Needless to say, these lists and the SSA’s lists look pretty different. :)

The girl names that increased and decreased the most in terms of usage are below. The boy names will be in the next post.

Biggest Increases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Sophia, +3608 babies (rank change: 4th to 2nd)
  2. Khloe, +1926 (95th to 42nd)
  3. Zoey, +1183 (75th to 47th)
  4. Charlotte, +1143 (68th to 45th)
  5. Zoe, +1080 (47th to 31st)
  6. Maci, +892 (655th to 232nd)
  7. Stella, +856 (126th to 85th)
  8. Scarlett, +781 (170th to 114th)
  9. Amelia, +739 (55th to 41st)
  10. Harper, +703 (172nd to 119th)
  11. Layla, +668 (45th to 37th)
  12. Ellie, +662 (145th to 104th)
  13. Kinley, +660 (452nd to 231st)
  14. Quinn, +637 (487th to 253rd)
  15. Tenley, +609 (2985th to 458th)
  16. Sofia, +602 (36th to 26th)
  17. Annabelle, +572 (156th to 117th)
  18. Bella, +566 (58th to 48th)
  19. Camila, +555 (80th to 61st)
  20. Hadley, +544 (363rd to 216th)

Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Madison, -2111 babies (rank change: 7th to 8th)
  2. Alexis, -1712 (13th to 16th)
  3. Taylor, -1700 (22nd to 36th)
  4. Ashley, -1517 (20th to 27th)
  5. Sarah, -1502 (21st to 30th)
  6. Samantha, -1282 (15th to 15th)
  7. Kaylee, -1145 (26th to 35th)
  8. Emily, -1123 (6th to 6th)
  9. Brooke, -1106 (54th to 72nd)
  10. Brianna, -1101 (24th to 29th)
  11. Alyssa, -1001 (19th to 20th)
  12. Valeria, -977 (72nd to 94th)
  13. Kaitlyn, -926 (67th to 90th)
  14. Madelyn, -898 (59th to 76th)
  15. Destiny, -885 (57th to 71st)
  16. Mia, -841 (10th to 10th)
  17. Elizabeth, -834 (11th to 12th)
  18. Marley, -830 (149th to 234th)
  19. Kayla, -795 (35th to 43rd)
  20. Lauren, -755 (46th to 58th)

Did you notice that a few of the above (Samantha, Emily, Mia) were big winners/losers according to the numbers, and yet their rankings stayed the same? Tricky.

Top baby names in Oklahoma, 2011

Flag of Oklahoma
Flag of Oklahoma

According to the Oklahoma Department of Health, the most popular baby names in Oklahoma in 2011 were these:

Girl names

  1. Emma
  2. Sophia
  3. Isabella
  4. Olivia
  5. Addison
  6. Ava
  7. Emily
  8. Abigail
  9. Brooklyn
  10. Madison
  11. Chloe
  12. Avery
  13. Elizabeth
  14. Lillian
  15. Alexis
  16. Lily
  17. Zoey
  18. Harper
  19. Natalie
  20. Ella

Boy names

  1. William
  2. Mason
  3. Jacob
  4. Elijah
  5. Noah
  6. Ethan
  7. Aiden
  8. Michael
  9. James
  10. Wyatt
  11. Gabriel
  12. Jackson
  13. Jayden
  14. Alexander
  15. Hunter
  16. Landon
  17. Bentley
  18. David
  19. Eli
  20. Joshua

Unisex names

  1. Riley
  2. Charlie
  3. River
  4. Landry
  5. Reece
  6. Elliot
  7. Camdyn
  8. Skylar
  9. Emerson
  10. Jessie
  11. Briar
  12. Justice
  13. Harley
  14. Rowan
  15. Baylor
  16. Casey
  17. Chandler
  18. Tegan
  19. Kamdyn
  20. Memphis

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a U.S. state put out a list of top gender-neutral names before. Interesting. Wish I knew what guideline/formula they were using to classify certain names as gender-neutral instead of gendered, though.

I also think it’s interesting that Zoey made the top 20, but Zoe didn’t. (Unless “Zoey” is a typo in my source article.)

I posted about bizarre baby names in Oklahoma in early 2011 — remember 12-Gage? — but the state hasn’t put out one of their fascinating “Oklahoma Baby Names Books” for 2011 yet, so I can’t dig any deeper than this. All I know is that “Oklahoma children were bestowed with 7,517 unique girls’ names and 5,255 unique boys’ names in 2011.”

Source: Smith, Michael. “William, Emma top most-popular baby names.” Tulsa World 18 Mar. 2012.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Oklahoma (public domain)

Popular baby names in Nova Scotia (Canada), 2010

According to Nova Scotia’s Registry of Vital Statistics, the top baby names in 2010 were Ella and Owen:

Girl Names

  1. Ella, 61 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 60
  3. Ava, 59
  4. Emma, 53 (tie)
  5. Lily, 53 (tie)
  6. Abigail, 48 (tie)
  7. Sophie, 48 (tie)
  8. Emily, 47
  9. Chloe, 41
  10. Alexis, 40 (3-way tie)
  11. Isabella, 40 (3-way tie)
  12. Madison, 40 (3-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Owen, 77 baby boys
  2. Liam, 76
  3. Benjamin, 73
  4. Ethan, 70 (tie)
  5. Jacob, 70 (tie)
  6. Logan, 58
  7. William, 52
  8. Carter, 51
  9. Jack, 49
  10. Samuel, 45
  11. Nathan, 43
  12. Alexander, 41
  13. Brayden, 40 (tie)
  14. Noah, 40 (tie)

A total of 8,784 babies were born in the province last year.

Source: “Ella, Owen top baby names in Nova Scotia.” CBC News 24 Aug. 2001.

How did Dwight D. Eisenhower influence baby names?

President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Taylor, Tyler, Madison, Jackson…sure, they’re presidential surnames, but if you met a kid with one of these names you wouldn’t assume that he/she was named after a former commander-in-chief.

Not so with Eisenhower.

The one and only time the name Eisenhower appeared in the U.S. baby name data was the year Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected president (the first time):

  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: unlisted
  • 1952: 5 baby boys named Eisenhower [debut]
  • 1951: unlisted
  • 1950: unlisted

And the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) reveals that at least four more people have been named Eisenhower — two were born in the ’40s, one in ’53, and one in the ’70s.

The German occupational surname means “iron-hewer” or “iron-cutter.”

The name Dwight became more popular during the 1950s as well, seeing peak usage in 1953:

  • 1959: 1,595 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 186th]
  • 1958: 1,695 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 176th]
  • 1957: 2,024 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 159th]
  • 1956: 2,368 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 139th]
  • 1955: 2,150 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 142nd]
  • 1954: 2,036 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 145th]
  • 1953: 2,689 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 122nd]
  • 1952: 2,405 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 123rd]
  • 1951: 2,049 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 134th]
  • 1950: 1,813 baby boys named Dwight [rank: 146th]

And let’s not forget Eisenhower’s famous campaign slogan, “I Like Ike.” His nickname — typically short for Isaac, but in this case based on the first syllable of his surname — also got a boost:

  • 1959: 52 baby boys named Ike*
  • 1958: 56 baby boys named Ike
  • 1957: 76 baby boys named Ike
  • 1956: 68 baby boys named Ike
  • 1955: 77 baby boys named Ike
  • 1954: 76 baby boys named Ike
  • 1953: 110 baby boys named Ike
  • 1952: 90 baby boys named Ike
  • 1951: 61 baby boys named Ike
  • 1950: 55 baby boys named Ike

And people still like Ike — in 2010, 59 boys were named Ike (coming down from a spike in 2008, courtesy of Hurricane Ike.)

*Here’s one more baby Ike from 1959.