Madeleine (name)

Madeleine is a feminine given name. It is a form of Magdalene, well-known because of Saint Mary Magdalene. In the United States, this name often appears under the spelling Madeline.

Meaning

Madeleine and Madeline are forms of Magdalene, which is well known as a name because of Saint Mary Magdalene. Magdalene means "from Magdala". Mary Magdalene's name is thought to be derived from Magdala – a village on the sea of Galilee. In Aramaic, "magdala" means "tower" or "elevated, great, magnificent". Additionally, in German, Mädelein means "little girl".

Madeline variants and popularity

Madeline is a popular girls' name. It is the usual North American English spelling of the French Madeleine, the French spelling being generally preferred in Britain.^[1]

It has ranked as one of the 100 most popular girls' names in the United States for the past decade. Madeline was the 61st most popular name for baby girls born in the United States in 2007, while its spelling variant Madelyn was ranked as the 104th most popular name given to baby girls born in 2007 and spelling variant Madeleine was ranked as the 290th most popular name given to girls born in 2007. Variant Magdalena was ranked as the 867th most popular name given to girls born in 2007 in the United States. Madeline was the 85th most popular name given to girls born in British Columbia, Canada in 2005 and the 93rd most popular name for girls born in New South Wales, Australia in 2007.^[2] Madeleine was the 80th most popular name given to girls born in England and Wales in 2007.^[1]

A common shortened version of the name is Maddy or Maddie.

People named Madeleine

• Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland (born 1982), fifth in line to the Swedish throne
• Madeleine Albright (born 1937), American politician and the first woman to become the United States Secretary of State
• Madeleine Astor (1893–1940), second wife and widow of millionaire John Jacob Astor IV and a survivor of the RMS Titanic disaster
• Madeleine Béjart (1618–1672), French actor and theatre director
• Madeleine Carroll (1906–1987), English actress
• Madeleine de Roybon d'Allonne (1646–1718), early settler of New France
• Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007), American writer; author of the Wrinkle in Time series
• Madeleine M. Kunin (born 1933), American politician and the first woman to become the Governor of Vermont
• Madeleine McCann, girl who disappeared while on holiday in May 2007
• Madeleine Peyroux (born 1973), American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• Madeleine de Puisieux (1720–1798), French philosopher and feminist writer
• Madeleine Smith (1835–1928), Scottish socialite tried for murder
• Madeleine Stowe (born 1958), American actress
• Madeleine Vionnet (1876–1975), French fashion designer who was the first to cut dresses on the bias

People named Madeline

• Madeline Bell (born 1942), American soul singer
• Madeline McDowell Breckinridge (1872–1920), a women's suffragette leader and reformer
• Madeline Carroll (born 1996), American actress
• Madeline Fairbanks (1900–1989), American actress along with her twin sister Marion
• Madeline Ivalu, Canadian filmmaker and actress
• Madeline Juno (born 1995), German singer-songwriter
• Madeline Kahn (1942–1999), American actress, comedian and singer
• Madeline Manning (born 1948), American track and field runner
• Madeline Perry (born 1977), professional squash player from Northern Ireland
• Madeline Smith (born 1949), English actress and comedian
• Madeline Zima (born 1985), American actress

Fictional characters

• Madeline, heroine of the book series of the same name by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Monsieur Madeleine, an alias used by Jean Valjean in the novel Les Misérables
• Madeline Bassett, a recurring character in the Jeeves stories of P. G. Wodehouse
• Madeline Bray, the wife of Nicholas Nickleby in the novel of that name by Charles Dickens
• Madeleine Elster, the mysterious central character in Hickcock's film, Vertigo
• Maddie Fitzpatrick (Madeline), in Disney's TV series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
• Madeleine Gotto, from the Canadian children's animated television series Mona the Vampire
• Madeleine Hanna, the heroine of Jeffrey Eugenides' 2011 book The Marriage Plot
• Madeline Hatter, daughter of the Mad Hatter in the Mattel doll franchise Ever After High
• Madeline "Mads" Ryback, in the television show The Lying Game
• Madeline Westen, in the television series Burn Notice

Related names

• Alena – German, Czech, Slovak
• Alenka – Slovenian
• Leena – Finnish, Estonian
• Lena – Scandinavian, German, Russian
• Lene – German, Danish, Norwegian
• Leni – German
• Lenka – Czech, Slovak
• Lone – Danish
• Madlen – Welsh
• Madailéin – Irish
• Madalena – Portuguese
• Mădălina – Romanian
• Madalyn – English
• Madylin – English
• Madalynne – English
• Madalin – English
• Maddalena – Italian
• Maddie – English
• Maddy – English
• Madelaine – Irish
• Madelene – Swedish
• Madeleine – French, English
• Madelina – English
• Madelon – Dutch
• Madelen – English
• Madlenka – Czech
• Madlyn – English
• Madoline – English
• Madzia – Polish
• Magda – German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Czech, Polish, Romanian, Portuguese, Slovak, Greek, Hungarian
• Magdalen – English
• Magdaléna – Czech, Slovak, Hungarian
• Magdalena – German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish, Czech, Polish, Bulgarian, Romanian
• Magdalene – German, Danish, English, Biblical
• Magdalone – Danish
• Magdolna – Hungarian
• Mahdalyna – Ukrainian
• Maialen – Basque
• Majda – Slovenian
• Majdoline – Persian
• Malen – Basque
• Malena – Spanish, Swedish
• Malene – Danish, Norwegian
• Malin – Swedish
• Marla – English
• Marleen – English, Dutch
• Marlena – English, Polish
• Marlene – German, English
• Marlyn – English
• Matleena – Finnish
• Matxalen – Basque
• Magdaliní – Greek
• Molly – Irish

References

1. 1 2 UK Office for National Statistics
2. ↑ Behind the Name