Madison's Splash

[Auburn Red]

This might be an interesting UL to cover, whether the movie Splash invented the name Madison or whether it just popularized it for girls. (Either way I don;t know too many women my age or older, I'm 33, who are named Madison but I know many women my sister's ages between 13-25 that are named Madison. I think it;s a current popular name) It's just out of curiosity and of course I have heard it many times.

[snopes]

Splash was released in 1984, and the girl's name "Madison" did show a marked increase in popularity starting the following year. It didn't really take off as one of the most popular girl's names until the late 1990's, though:

http://www.weddingvendors.com/baby-n...aning/madison/

[Brad from Georgia]

My grandfather was named Madison (that's absolutely true), though everyone called him by a nickname, Matt. He wasn't female, though he did wear a dress for a time in the forties.

[dfresh]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

though he did wear a dress for a time in the forties.

Whatever you had to do to get out of World War II?

[katikate]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

My grandfather was named Madison (that's absolutely true), though everyone called him by a nickname, Matt. He wasn't female, though he did wear a dress for a time in the forties.

Ummmmm, and you're just going to leave it at that? Now I'm sooooo curious.

[Christie]

Think Klinger in MASH.

[Brad from Georgia]

Originally Posted by katikate

Ummmmm, and you're just going to leave it at that? Now I'm sooooo curious.

The last part is a quote from Grampa Simpson. Too hip for the room, I guess....

My gramps was a minister and a bootlegger, not necessarily in that order.

[Auburn Red]

Well Brad your grandfather was an interesting...figure.
Anyway, great site Snopes, the one on the Baby names. I had fun going through it looking for the popularity of my first and middle names (pretty consistent but they are both common particularly my middle name).

[Roadsterboy]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

My gramps was a minister and a bootlegger, not necessarily in that order.

I'd have paid to see him do both at the same time.

[Auburn Red]

You ever see the movie What the Deaf Man Heard? A family that runs a scrap dealer ship are also bootleggers on the side and they hide the goods in the baptismal pool! Without mentioning all the whys and wherefores, a fireworks display causes the church to burn down taking the umm, goods, with it. I would guess that's what a minister/bootlegger would do, hide the material in the church somewhere in plain sight.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Roadsterboy

I'd have paid to see him do both at the same time.

I imagine bootleggers did a lot of praying.

My dad had a relative who was a bootlegger. He used to come visit and bring them nice stuff. Then he stopped coming, allegedly because he died of "lead poisoning."

[Lgreywolf]

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

He wasn't female, though he did wear a dress for a time in the forties.

"Oh, they had designers then!"

[TrishDaDish]

Originally Posted by Auburn Red

You ever see the movie What the Deaf Man Heard?

I love that movie! I didn't think anyone else had heard of it. I am going to be very sad when my tape of it dies, cause I can't find it on DVD.

Originally Posted by Brad from Georgia

My grandfather was named Madison (that's absolutely true), though everyone called him by a nickname, Matt. He wasn't female, though he did wear a dress for a time in the forties.

Madison was originally a male name. It means "son of Maude" (with a few exceptions like Allison most names ending in "son" are male names).

I wouldn't be shocked if it did become extremely popular for girls. Pop culture/movies/TV shows..etc have influenced naming trends for years. Now there are a ton of Bellas, Edwards and other "Twilight" themed names popping up and in previous years other books/movies/TV shows influenced naming.

[Keket]

Originally Posted by Lgreywolf

"Oh, they had designers then!"

Damn it, I was just about to post that!

Coincidentally, we had a horse come into our barn whose registered name ws Doc Madison and his previous owners called him Madison. To us, that was a girl's name, and we've been calling him Matt.

[Critterbites]

Originally Posted by TrishDaDish

I love that movie! I didn't think anyone else had heard of it. I am going to be very sad when my tape of it dies, cause I can't find it on DVD.

http://dvd.shop.ebay.com/DVD-HD-DVD-...=p3286.c0.m282

[Mosherette]

Originally Posted by snopes

Splash was released in 1984, and the girl's name "Madison" did show a marked increase in popularity starting the following year. It didn't really take off as one of the most popular girl's names until the late 1990's, though:

http://www.weddingvendors.com/baby-n...aning/madison/

I suspect that's when the little girls enchanted by Daryl Hannah started having babies.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Mosherette

I suspect that's when the little girls enchanted by Daryl Hannah started having babies.

And little boys who'd had crushes on her.

A co-worker of mine once told me about a study she read (FOAF, yes) that found that baby-naming preferences were strongly influenced by things the parents were exposed to and enjoyed when they were children. Which suggested to us that all the J names popular in the 1980s, when she was having her kids, were perhaps influenced by parents who'd watched Here Come the Brides as kids in the 1960s. (The three main characters were named, IIRC, Joshua, Jason and Jeremy).

Originally Posted by BBVD Fan

Madison was originally a male name. It means "son of Maude" (with a few exceptions like Allison most names ending in "son" are male names).

I wouldn't be shocked if it did become extremely popular for girls. Pop culture/movies/TV shows..etc have influenced naming trends for years. Now there are a ton of Bellas, Edwards and other "Twilight" themed names popping up and in previous years other books/movies/TV shows influenced naming.

Go figure trends. Thanks in part to the movie, Madison became a more-popular girls' name. But I would think that Daryl might also have caught on as a girls' name! I've seen it spelled with one and two Rs and Ls and with varying vowels, but always for a male.

[Critterbites]

Originally Posted by Katerina

I've seen it spelled with one and two Rs and Ls and with varying vowels, but always for a male.

I had a female friend in 8th grade (ca. 1972) named Darryl ~ or, possibly, Darrel. I moved at the end of the school year and never saw her again, but I'm sure she grew up to look just like "Weird" Al Yankovich.