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.
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.
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. Madeleine was the 80th most popular name given to girls born in England and Wales in 2007.
A common shortened version of the name is Maddy or Maddie.
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
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, 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
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
