Madeleine
Meaning and origin
From French Madeleine. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1788.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Madeleine (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Madeleine has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 1998. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 182 |
| 1999 | 161 |
| 2000 | 161 |
| 2001 | 121 |
| 2002 | 105 |
| 2003 | 107 |
| 2004 | 68 |
| 2005 | 63 |
| 2006 | 40 |
| 2007 | 48 |
| 2008 | 37 |
| 2009 | 34 |
| 2010 | 25 |
| 2011 | 33 |
| 2012 | 22 |
| 2013 | 24 |
| 2014 | 19 |
| 2015 | 32 |
| 2016 | 23 |
| 2017 | 19 |
| 2018 | 21 |
| 2019 | 13 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 18 |
| 2022 | 13 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 10,553 |
| 2000 | 10,779 |
| 2001 | 10,976 |
| 2002 | 11,129 |
| 2003 | 11,347 |
| 2004 | 11,446 |
| 2005 | 11,489 |
| 2006 | 11,549 |
| 2007 | 11,595 |
| 2008 | 11,723 |
| 2009 | 11,744 |
| 2010 | 11,765 |
| 2011 | 11,791 |
| 2012 | 11,819 |
| 2013 | 11,833 |
| 2014 | 11,848 |
| 2015 | 11,872 |
| 2016 | 11,901 |
| 2017 | 11,918 |
| 2018 | 11,920 |
| 2019 | 11,939 |
| 2020 | 11,956 |
Madeleine in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Madeleine.Hi! My name is Madeleine.
- Madeleine ringde och sa att hon blir lite sen.Madeleine called and said she'll be a bit late.
- Madeleine har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Madeleine has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Madeleines mamma är lärare.Madeleine's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Madeleines mamma is Madeleine's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Madeleine
How do you pronounce Madeleine in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Madeleine from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Madeleine mean?
From French Madeleine. First recorded as a Swedish name in 1788.
How popular is Madeleine in Sweden?
13 babies were named Madeleine in 2022. In 2020, 11,956 people in Sweden had Madeleine as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 1998 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.