Madysen

Meaning & origin

Madysen is a modern respelling of Madison, a name that surged in popularity after the 1984 film Splash introduced the character Madison McMillan. The variant Madysen first appeared in U.S. records in 1990 and reached its peak rank of 732 in 2002. Since 2001 its trajectory has been falling, and in 2025 it ranked 11,932nd, with about 1 in 229,610 girls receiving the name. The name's creative spelling with a 'y' and 'en' ending became a fashionable choice in the 2000s. While Madison has been a top-10 name for decades, Madysen remains much rarer, appealing to parents seeking a distinctive yet familiar-sounding name.

Madysen is a modern respelling of Madison, which itself derives from an English patronymic surname meaning 'son of Maud'. Maud is a medieval feminine form of Matilda, from Germanic 'maht' (might, strength) and 'hild' (battle). Madison became popular as a given name in the late 20th century, partly due to the character Madison in the 1984 film 'Splash'. Madysen, with its distinctive '-en' ending, emerged as a creative variant in the 1990s and peaked in popularity in the early 2000s.