Given name & surname · also Danish
Madsen
Madsen is a surname from Danish, ultimately from Norwegian. It is used in English, Norwegian Bokmål, and Danish.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
Madsen comes from Danish, and ultimately from Norwegian.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In Danish usage, Madsen as a surname has a “son of” formation linked to Mads.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1994. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Madsen through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 166
- 161 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 16 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,662 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +5%
- Steady
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,662 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 232 as a first name in 2020; 17,190 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Madsen’s family of names
In Danish usage, Madsen as a surname has a “son of” formation linked to Mads. In Danish usage, Madsen as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the German form Thyssen.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Madsen, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Marken
Marken is a surname from Norwegian, ultimately from Swedish.
>99% boys
Mase
Mase is a masculine given name from Danish. It is used in Greenlandic.
>99% boys
Thorsen
Thorsen is a surname from Danish, ultimately from Norwegian. It is used in English, Danish, and Norwegian.
>99% boys
Olsen
Olsen is a surname from Danish. It is used in English, Danish, Faroese, Icelandic, and 1 other language.
99% boys · 1% girls
Torben
“thor's bear”
>99% boys
Haaland
“high” · “land”
>99% boys
Nielsen
Nielsen is a surname from Danish, ultimately from Norwegian. It is used in English, Danish, Icelandic, and Norwegian.
>99% boys
Thorben
“Thor” · “bear”
>99% boys