# Madison before Daryl Hannah **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441 "2001-08-21T23:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dwtno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dwtno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwtno)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/1 "2001-08-21T23:12:43Z")
Although ‘Madison’ sounds like a perfectly reasonable name for a woman today, I’m fairly certain it was actually invented by Ron Howard in the 1984 film “Splash.” Since then, of course, I see little Madisons everywhere. The name has now entered the American mainstream (much like ‘Wendy’ in Britain). While scanning through the [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com) today, though, I noticed an adult character with this name in a 1987 film. Of course this film was produced after ‘Splash’ so it was almost certainly influenced by the original ‘Madison.’ But within the reality of the film, this character would have been named well _before_ “Splash” came out. So my question is this: Did the name ‘Madison,’ in fact, come from the film “Splash” or did the creators of this other film just slip up and use a name that wouldn’t have existed when the character in question was named? Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/2 "2001-08-21T23:47:47Z")
I thought she named herself after seeing a sign for Madison Ave. Her real name made the TVs blow up. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/3 "2001-08-21T23:55:39Z")
Yes, she named herself when Tom Hanks said something about being at Madison and 5th Avenues, or whatever. And yes, popular movies and TV definately influence names. I’m a teacher, and have seen trendy and “hip” names come from popular culture. Way too many kids running around with names like: Shania (Twain) Mariah (Carey) Garth (Wayne’s World or Garth Brooks?) Brooks (Garth or Robinson?) Michaela (Dr. Quinn) Dylan (Bob or Thomas…I always want to ask!) Shelby (Steel Magnolias) Madison (Splash) Luke (90210) There’s more, but I’m drawing a blank. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/4 "2001-08-22T00:10:24Z")
I’m not sure all the Madisons out there were named for the Splash character. Anecdotally, I noticed that a lot of girls born between the mid-80s and early 90s to people I know were given family names as first names. Most of these names came from the parents’family trees. Taylor and Lindsay are the only examples I can think of right now (and yes, Lindsay was named after the Lindsay family). The Census Bureau keeps track of such things. 3 out of 1,000 females are named Madison. [http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html](http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html) ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/5 "2001-08-22T00:10:58Z")
Well, “Madison” derives from the German for “son of Matthew,” and has been a surname for ages. Given the increased popularity in recent years of coopting surnames for use as first names, I suspect “Madison” would have entered common use with or without the movie. But I’ll keep looking for women older than 17 named Madison. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/6 "2001-08-22T01:34:45Z")
Madison Starke Perry (1814–1865) was an early governor of Florida. [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/governors/perry.html](http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/governors/perry.html) That’s definitely before Splash hit the theaters. I think women named Madison used to be called Maddy. This would make them hard to find since Maddy was also a given name. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/7 "2001-08-22T01:57:09Z")
My sister’s confirmation name is Michaela, which I think is rather pretty. Still, I prefer old fashioned, sometimes down right fuddy-duddy names, like Rose, Victoria, Olga, Josephine and Marie. ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/8 "2001-08-22T02:40:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kinsey \* > \*\* > > Way too many kids running around with names like: > > Michaela (Dr. Quinn) > There’s more, but I’m drawing a blank. \*\* My sister’s name is Mikhaela and she will be 27 in November. It is a pretty popular name, and has been, in Hawaii for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![dwtno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@dwtno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwtno)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/9 "2001-08-22T02:47:28Z")
Squink: “Maddy” or “Maddie” is (or at least _was_) a nickname for Madalyn. And more to the point, I think I may have just found the answer to my own question: [http://www.heptune.com/names/name0400.html](http://www.heptune.com/names/name0400.html) “The earliest occurrence I have found of Madison as a girl’s name is a girl born in 1966 in Guam. During the late 1980s and 1990s, it has burgeoned into popularity in the United States as a girl’s name, and is even used in Australia.” So yes, the name does predate “Splash,” but the timeing of it’s widespread popularity does appear to coincide with the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/10 "2001-08-22T03:08:04Z")
I thought this thread was about adult film star [Madison](http://search.excaliburfilms.com/pornlist/starpgs/madison.htm). I always thought she was very cute, until she got breast implants. Now she’s a rock singer. (BTW, Checked with Tuba, she said as long as the link wasn’t to a page with actual nudity, it was acceptable. Took me 20 minutes to find a picture that wasn’t porn, hehe) ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/11 "2001-08-22T03:09:55Z")
A similar phenomenon is a spate of 15-year old girls running around the U.K. all named Kayleigh, after the self-same song by [url=“[http://www.marillion.com](http://www.marillion.com)”] ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/12 "2001-08-22T03:11:15Z")
[Marillion](http://www.marillion.com), which was a big hit in 1985/86. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/13 "2001-08-22T04:33:39Z")
I always thought it was part of the phenomena of the first names of kids today coming from the surnames of Presidents: Jefferson, Madison, Tyler, Taylor, Jackson … ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2001, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/madison-before-daryl-hannah/77441/14 "2001-08-22T04:40:53Z")
And of course, Millhouse.