How common is the surname Madsen?

17,364 people in the United States had the surname Madsen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,781 Americans. It ranked 2,083rd of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Madsen?

In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Madsen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

Who is the most famous person named Madsen?

Michael Madsen, American actor (1957–2025), followed by Virginia Madsen.

Where is the surname Madsen most common?

Wikidata records people named Madsen in the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark.

Is the surname Madsen getting more or less common?

More common. 16,425 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,364 in 2010, up 5.7%.

The surname Madsen

A Danish surname, carried by 17,364 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex M325

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Madsen is more common than 98.7% of them.

Origin

Danish origin

Borrowed from Danish and Norwegian Madsen.

One of 50 Danish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 17,364 people named Madsen in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 17,781 Americans. That is up 5.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 16,425.

#2,083

rank among US surnames

17,364

people in 2010

5.9

per 100,000 Americans

+5.7%

change since 2000 (was #2,024)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,074	McCormack	17,449	17,694
#2,075	Mai	17,445	17,698
#2,076	Dumas	17,442	17,701
#2,077	Kenny	17,429	17,714
#2,078	Ceja	17,423	17,721
#2,079	O'Keefe	17,414	17,730
#2,080	Shultz	17,395	17,749

Who is named Madsen

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Madsen identified as white (not Hispanic), 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race) and 1.5% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 95%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
Two or more races 1.5%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
Black (not Hispanic) 0.4%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Madsens

6 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Michael Madsen
American actor (1957–2025)
Virginia Madsen
American actress, born 1961
Christian Madsen
American actor, born 1990
Mark Madsen
American basketball player/coach, born 1976
Mads Emil Madsen
Association football player, born 1998
Angela Madsen
American athlete, 1960–2020

Notable Madsens come mostly from the United States (5) and the Kingdom of Denmark (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Madsen

Madsen has the Soundex code M325, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M325.

Other Danish surnames

All 50 Danish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Madsen come from?: Borrowed from Danish and Norwegian Madsen.
How common is the surname Madsen?: 17,364 people in the United States had the surname Madsen in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 17,781 Americans. It ranked 2,083rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Madsen?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Madsen identified as white (not Hispanic), and 2.1% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).
Who is the most famous person named Madsen?: Michael Madsen, American actor (1957–2025), followed by Virginia Madsen.
Where is the surname Madsen most common?: Wikidata records people named Madsen in the United States and the Kingdom of Denmark.
Is the surname Madsen getting more or less common?: More common. 16,425 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 17,364 in 2010, up 5.7%.