TikToker reveals surprising origin of the name Madison

A viral TikTok has revealed the surprising origin of the name Madison — and it traces back to a Disney movie. TikTok user @jakie62 explained in a recent post that before 1984, virtually no girls were named Madison. The 1984 film Splash, starring Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, unwittingly launched the name into popularity. In the film, Hannah plays a mermaid, who is looking for a human name when she passes New York's Madison Avenue. “Madison! I like Madison!” the mermaid says to which Hanks’ character responds, “Well, Madison’s not a name”. Eventually, he agrees to the unconventional name, and the mermaid goes by Madison for the rest of the film.