...as Tom Hanks says, when she names herself after Madison Avenue.
I remember how back in the 80's, Madison really did seem like a ridiculous first name for a female... (it had only been considered a LAST name generally)...
And today it seems to be one of the most common girls' names. Did SPLASH have something to do with this?
The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.
Exactly. The geographical name MADISON was inflicted on humanity by this movie. My daughter knows at least five girls with that name and I still think it sounds ridiculous. What's next -- another nice Wisconsin city name like Milwaukee or Green Bay for girls?
"You cannot erase God with an edict." - Rod Serling
Well, there's always Duluth. I can imagine someone with the name Duluth Walters.
"HAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"
That's an amusing notion, but I'm sure you realize that "Madison" WAS at least a surname (and occasional man's 1st name) before SPLASH. It's not purely geographical. President Madison, for example, who I believe is Madison Avenue's namesake...
It's just that before the 80s, Madison as a girl's 1st name would have sounded as ridiculous as,say, James. (what? James King is a girl? What's with these nutty parents these days?) ;)
The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.
Yes, I did realize said fact, but it's a far cry from the last name a man who was Prez 200 years ago to the first name of a girl who was born 10 years ago.
You have to name them SOMETHING, but I think this largely smacks of Hollywood worship that got wayyyy out of hand.
"Hollywood worship" starts name fads all the time. Gone with the Wind ignited a fad for the name Melanie. Scarlett wasn't nearly so popular, although it's a safe bet that if there'd never been a GWTW, Scarlett Johansson would have a different first name.
Shirley was a man's name before Shirley Temple caused a complete gender reversal.
And Peyton Place touched off a boom in the name Allison for girls although the girl Allison MacKenzie in Peyton Place is named for her father. The same thing happened with the name Ashley, a male character in GWTW. The movie went into theatrical rerelease in 1967, and soon afterward mothers started naming their girl babies Ashley.
"Wendy" wasn't a girl's first name until "Peter Pan" in 1904.
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Yes, the name Madison's popularity IS related to this movie.
In 1984, the year this was released, the name Madison did not chart as a girl's name.
In 1985, nearly 300 girls were given the name, and it entered the top 1000 chart at 628.
In 1986, 644 girls were given the name, and it jumped to 366.
And so on, until it eventually peaked at number 3. (As of 2008, it was number 4, with nearly 17,000 girls born with the name... in May we'll find out where it ranks for 2009)
The thing is, this is likely not media worship. A lot of times what happens is that an unheard of name is used somewhere (for example, in a movie, or on a celebrity child, something high profile) and someone says "Wow, I like that, I'm going to use it on my kid." It doesn't matter if they like the movie or the celebrity, they like the sound of the name.
And after awhile, people start picking up on the name without seeing the movie or the association. It could be as simple as mentioning to your pregnant sister-in-law, "Oh my neighbor named her daughter Madison, isn't that neat?" It just spreads.
& thus how Madison grew popular. It also helps that she fits many of the other trends that are in now, like that it's boyish with a feminine nickname (people do so love their Maddies and Addies), -n endings are in, etc.
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I don't think the writers of the movie expected this though; I believe it was meant to be a joke. Oops!
It is from this movie i showed my friends who'd never seen this movie before and they want to call their daughters madison and i know someone who has already called their daughter madison and she was a big of this movie
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you think THAT'S bad, I went to school with a BOY named madison. to this day I can't believe it.
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I know a couple people with Madison daughters, but there are too young for this to be the influence, so it has endured.
shareYep, that's why everyone named their child Madison from then until 1995-ish. Then everyone after that just chose the name Madison because they thought it was 'beautiful' when really it mean's Maud's son from the Bible and it's a last name and a guy name.
-Madison, 1994
It's like being inside a dream or something.. There's truth, but no logic.
I'm wondering if anyone's ever tried speeding up and dropping the pitch of her "real" name, i.e. the one that blew all the TVs in the Bloomingdale's electricals department. Maybe it's someone's name distorted by the sound crew... or maybe, if it's played backwards, it's Satan's name... etc, etc...
I thought it was normal! My cousin mentioned to me not more than 3 days ago that Madison was/is one of the most popular girls names. It seems so natural to me...
When he said that I thought, "yes Tom, it IS a name!"
"...the young man would love it too, but he can't afford it."
I think Madison is a nice name for a girl. The reason why it caught on, is because it does seem like an appropriate girls name. Does anyone else think it's more strikingly odd that the actress that played the character called Madison was named Daryl?
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Ha!
I wondered where these Madisons were coming from.
It's a terrible name for a girl. Mark my words, this is the "Peggy" or "Bertha" or "Martha" of a new generation. Ten years from now, the fad will be over.
James Madison, author of the Bill of Rights, Father of the Constitution, president, etc. A man among men. I'd name a boy Madison. The use of Madison in Splash was meant to be a joke. Like Ford Perfect in The Hitchhiker's Guide, sucks to be those girls.
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I like the name. I wouldn't name my own daughter Madison though, because it's been done.
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Lol yep!! If I was old enough to have a kid in the 80's though, I would have probably given her that name because I've always loved this movie.
shareWell, about ten years ago or so, I would've never thought that Paris would be a name, but I wouldn't be surprised if that becomes a very common name over the next ten to fifteen years.
shareSometime in the not too distant future, the nursing homes of America will be full of little 90 year old Tiffanys, Britneys, and Madisons.
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There's an interesting phenomenon where boys' names can become unisex and eventually girls' names over the years (e.g. Vivian), but girls' names never become boys' names. (Unless there's an exception I'm missing.)
shareMy best friends little sister was 4 when this movie came out, and she LOVED that name. Every baby doll she ever received was named Madison.
Years later she had a daughter and named her Madison. We she always said she would! Of course, now every girl and her dog are named Madison, so it's totally lost it's appeal I think.
better than:
eeeehhh eeehh EEEEEHHHHHH HHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!
I remember I always said that if I had a daughter I would name her Madison after this movie. And then my sister got pregnant and stole the name from me for her daughter. Bitch. :/
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