Madeleine

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Madeline in US United States, AU Australia, GB United Kingdom and 11 more, מדלין in IL Israel, IQ Iraq, MA Morocco, Мадлен in RU Russia, FI Finland and Madlen in CZ Czechia, BG Bulgaria.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 27 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Madeleine is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name296K records spelled Madeleine18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Australia, Germany, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, German, Swedish

  Also written Madelèine, Madeléine, Madeleíne, Màdeleine, Madeleiné

• Spanish given name85K records spelled Madeleine4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Peru, Brazil, Argentina, United States

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Madeleiné, Madeléine

• a separate given name715 records spelled Madeleine3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Sweden, Norway, United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Madeleiné, Madeleíne

72 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Madeleine is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, French; from Magdalene, woman from Magdala

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, A French type of small gateau or sponge cake, often shaped like an elongated scallop shell.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, madeleine (small gateau in the shape of a scallop shell)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Du nom biblique de Marie-Madeleine, « de Magdala »; associée à la pécheresse repentante. Fête: 22 juillet.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In French, Du latin Magdalena, « de Magdala »; nom de Marie Madeleine, fêtée le 22 juillet.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 144 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Madeleine de Scudéryb. 1607FRFrench writer (1607–1701)
• Madame de La Fayetteb. 1634FRnot in their usual nameFrench writer (1634-1693)
• Madeleine Albrightb. 1937USUnited States Secretary of State from 1997 to 2001
• Françoise Hardyb. 1944FRnot in their usual nameFrench singer (1944–2024)
• Isabelle Huppertb. 1953FRnot in their usual nameFrench actress (born 1953)
• Christine Lagardeb. 1956FRnot in their usual namePresident of the European Central Bank
• Madeleine Stoweb. 1958USAmerican actress (born 1958)
• Sophie Kinsellab. 1969GBnot in their usual nameBritish writer (1969–2025)
• Madeleine Westb. 1980AUAustralian actress, author and director
• Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästriklandb. 1982SEyoungest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,360 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Madeleine?

We estimate roughly 483 thousand people bear Madeleine (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Madeleine have the most bearers?

We estimate about 306 thousand people bear Madeleine in France, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled madeleine.

Where is Madeleine most common?

Madeleine is densest in France, where the national register counts about 1 in 221 people carrying it.

How common is Madeleine compared with other names?

In France, Madeleine is the 88th most common given name of 711,207 given names recorded there.

Is Madeleine a male or female name?

Madeleine is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Madeleine mean?

Recorded meaning: French form of Magdalene, from Hebrew Magdala, a place name.