Madonna (name)

Madonna is a name from the 16th century, originally used as a respectful form of address to an Italian woman. It comes from Old Italian phrase ma donna which means "my lady". It was later adopted as one of the titles for Mary, mother of Jesus in Roman Catholic tradition in the 17th century. Its usage has been present in Western Christian art and literature.

The name has also become associated in contemporary culture with American singer Madonna (full name: Madonna Louise Ciccone) since late twentieth century. She registered her name for trademark in the United States during the 1980s. Her trademark was also recognized internationally when she won a legal case in 2000 through the United Nations' arbitration at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Etymology and title for Mary, mother of Jesus


Madonna comes from Old Italian language words of ma ("my") and donna ("lady"). The Italian word came from the Latin phrase mea domina (or domina mea), translated as "my mistress" in English. In modern Italian, "my lady" is translated as mia donna. The name is alternatively spelled as Madona, Madonnah, and Madòna. Its short-form nicknames include Maddy, Maddie, Madge, and Donna.

Madonna was attested in the 16th century as a respectful form of address to an Italian woman. It became a loanword to English language in 1584, defining as "an idealized virtuous and beautiful woman" (Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998). Previously, in vernacular Italian communities of the Middle Ages, such as northern Italian dialects, Madonna meant variously, including a high-born lady, a spouse's mother and the "loved woman" during the Dolce Stil Novo period. Mea Domina or Madonna also signified the "ideal woman" to troubadours of Provence. Ksana Blank, in Dostoevsky's Dialectics and the Problem of Sin (2010), refers to this precedent as the "cult of Lady", or "The European aesthetic ideal of the Madonna", an image imported from Byzantium in medieval times by pilgrims and crusaders modeled on Ma domna ("My Lady" for Occitan), and it had an impact on European prose, having influenced arts, literature and everyday life, including troubadours who Denis de Rougemont described their views as "supremely ambiguous". In addition, Madonna was also used as a mock-respectful form of address to an Italian woman, and according to Peruvian-Italian writer Felipe Sassone in 1953, as a sense of "pagan admiration and pride" for a man's possession of a woman. Madonna was also used to mean "prostitute" in early modern England. The derogatory sense of the term is clear in Thomas Dekker's Blurt, Master Constable (1602).

Although the Bible makes no mention of the word Madonna, it was adopted as one of titles for Mary, mother of Jesus, in the 17th century (circa the 1640s). The term has not been present in general Christianity, but has been particular to Roman Catholic tradition. It was not used by various Protestant denominations during their dominance in the American religious cultural landscape at that time. Centuries later, observers from academia to the art world, such as Robert Orsi and Stephen Knapp have referred to the word as a "Catholic term" or from the Catholic faith, while it was called a symbol of purity and virginity in Catholicism by a Christian author. In an article published by linguistic journal Transactions of the Philological Society in 1957, the word is defined as "essentially a term of art criticism and hardly belongs to the religious language of England".

With the definite article (the Madonna), the term appeared as a complimentary term noting a likeness to Mary. This designation to Mary as pointed out the International Marian Research Institute at University of Dayton, is translated into English as "Our Lady", and that term is also known in other languages as Nuestra Señora (Spanish), Notre-Dame (French), Nossa Senhora (Portuguese) or Unsere liebe Frau (German).

Traditionally, the Madonna has been mostly used for "images of Mary holding the infant Jesus", although it is also referred to depictions of Mary without Jesus, according to publications ranging from 19th to 21st centuries. The theme of the Madonna became one of the most popular subjects of Christian Western art, or perhaps the most popular at some extent, popularized by painters of the Middle Ages (such as Fra Angelico), especially from the Renaissance. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the term is usually restricted to Mary's devotional representations rather than narrative, showing her in a "non-historical context and to sentimental significances"; Diane Apostolos-Cappadona, a religious art professor from catholic studies program at Georgetown University, referred to as "one of the most popular topics in Christian art and one that had no direct scriptural basis". In modern times, as reported Ginny Kubitz Moyer from Busted Halo, the term is very familiar to art historians thanks to Marian arts. In the community, some have follow the distinction when it comes to Mary holding the infant or without him to apply the term, which is also noted with the usage of the term "Madonna and Child".

Throughout history, the name has acquired other meanings; the word was later used to mean by others all sorts of things about women. The term Madonna–whore complex, also known as "the virgin/whore complex", has been used as a teaching about sexuality and the female body, in some Christian communities. Others have interpreted the term to mean "virgin" as an original Italian word, and motherhood. In other cultures, like modern Japan, historically, the word Madonna "has little to do with Mary" according to the International Comparative Literature Association. The popularity of the word in that country was attributed to novelist Natsume Sōseki in the early 20th century, when he used it as a nickname for a character in one of his publications. In the mid-1980s, the term "Madonna" or "Madonna Boom" was popularized again in the country, after Doi Takako's emergence as the first woman in the political history of Japan to become the leader of a political party. The American singer Madonna (born 1958), also had a slight effect on that catchphrase, according to Ardath W. Burks from Rutgers University.

Late 20th-century effects
19th-century English Italian-based writer Thomas Adolphus Trollope described the term "Madonna", as in extenso "appropriated exclusively to the Holy Virgin". The in extenso association to Mary was affected after the advent of Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone, 1958), an American singer whose given name and middle name were taken from her mother, Madonna Louise (Fortin). A Brigham Young University professor explored how the ambiguation of the word "Madonna" had already begun before "Internet algorithms". The American singer became part of word's definition in some reference works, both printed and online, including Oxford Dictionary of English (2010), and Encyclopædia Britannica since 2002, among others. Althought the illustration for the word "Madonna" in some references works such as Microsoft Encarta with the image of the American singer also generated certain criticism.

According to authors in Governing Codes (2005), the association with Mary still popular in literature, although the American singer's figure was "much more familiar to contemporary audiences". Semiotician Victorino Zecchetto agreed that in the Western system of meanings, "Madonna" evoked "only" the Virgin Mary, but after the emergence of the singer, the semantic field favored other interpretations. Author Michael Campbell similarly claimed that the term acquired a more contemporary image: "The pop star whose given name was enough to identify her to the world at large".

Common association with American singer Madonna (b. 1958)
Various publications have attributed a dominant association to American singer's since her debut in the 1980s. Explorations vary. For instance, anthologist Bruce Lansky, as reported The Canberra Times in 1991, said: "Madonna Ciccone already has out stripped the Virgin Mother as the archetype for her name." Lansky noted Madonna as a perfect example of someone shaped by her name or, in her case, the rejection of it. In an article published by the New Theatre Quarterly in 1996, Mark Watts wrote that "the persona (Ciccone) can be said to be signified of the word 'Madonna'. It embodies the indescribable combination of ideas that enters our mind when we think 'Madonna' —singer, star, exhibitionist, whataever".

American singer's influence is noted on the Internet age landscape, notoriously in simplified results on websites and search engines of general wide use. For example, art museum Castagnino+macro concurred that the viewpoints of the word "Madonna" has been changed since its origin, and Google results, for instance, are virtually limited the singer. On the same plain, a contributor from art institution MoMA PS1 said that "Madonna as Mary doesn't even show up on the first five pages of a simple Google search". Musician turned-writer Alina Simone also noted singer's influence, by saying in Madonnaland (2016), "Google Madonna's name and the mother of Jesus is nowhere in sight". Speaking about the point, authors of Constantly Consume (2007), explained that unlike AltaVista, the dominant search engine when Google surfaced and required "labyrinthic" searches, such as "Madonna and not singer", Google simplified the query process by analyzing how often web sites are linked to other highly ranked sites.

Reactions and commentary
The American singer frequently played and explored various female roles/stereotypes such as the whore complex, and often employed religious imagery in provocative and challenged ways. Maury Dean documented how the singer was noted for her "morality and name coincidence".

In 1997, Finnish religious studies magazine Temenos commented that "several Christian critics" insisted on calling her by her second name, as Madonna is "anything but Madonna-like". According to the magazine, critics like Godwin (1988) or Ahrnroth (1991), claimed that Madonna was her pseudonym. Occasionally, the American singer parallelly faced mistranslations and misinterpretations of some international sources, as reported an article published in Yahoo! on 2024. Traditional Catholic activist, Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira used her name with "quotation marks", while Italian name expert, Enzo La Stella, whom also assumed Madonna as her stage name, named her as born "Luisa Veronica Ciccone". According to author Adam Sexton (1993), in the souvenir program book from her 1987 tour, the singer is quoted as saying: "Madonna is my real name. It means a lot of things. It means virgin, mother, mother of earth. Someone who is very pure and innocent but someone who's very strong". She was also quoted, according to Arrington, defining Madonna as a "strange name [...] I felt there was a reason. I felt like I had to live up to my name". Biographer Andrew Morton, in Madonna (2001), defined that before fame, her name was "a curse rather than a blessing" and when she ventured into the New York scene, "her name automatically defined her as Catholic, ethnic and regional".

Some authors were critical or concerned about a cultural illiteracy step. In an article published in 1991 for Irish Catholic periodical The Furrow, catechist Stephanie Walsh explored about a generational gap in a fast-changing Irish society. In The Authority of Women in the Catholic Church (2015), Catholic theologian Monica Migliorino Miller from the Madonna University recognized the psyche associated to the singer, but lamented: "When the word Madonna is mentioned, it's not Mary who comes to mind but someone arguably her antithesis. [She] has managed to rise to the center of consciousness when the word is used in the public square. It's not Christ's mother who comes to mind but a crude and irreverent vocalist". Other commentators claimed that "once it was a name spoken with reverence, but now people have a whole new attitude toward the name", to describe: "Madonna has appropriated the word and turned the intended insult to her advantage".

On the other hand, Canadian academic Linda Hutcheon in Irony's Edge, remarks on singer's irony but added that Madonna as the medieval title given to a woman, and that in Italian-speaking discurse community, the added "subliminal" idea of "ma donna" (my woman), in terms of either possessiveness or material/sexual posseion, "is likely ironizable, no matter what stand you take on her personal politics".

Popularity


Some international observers agreed that Madonna is a rare name for babies, even among Catholic population, including authors of The Italian Heritage: A Companion to Literature and Arts (1998). It was not used as a given name in Italy and was first used as a name by Italian Americans. The oldest Madonna in the United States census is Madonna Klotz (born 1843), daughter of John and Julianna in Philadelphia. The US Social Security's yearly baby name lists started in 1880, but Madonna only began entering the top-1,000 position in 1909. The name was mildly popular through most of the first half of the 20th century. It reached an all-time peak at 536th in 1933 and made its last appearance within the top 1,000 in 1968. The American singer's early popularity helped give a slight increase in the 1980s, but it did not last long. Since 1992 fewer than 20 newly-born babies named Madonna in the United States every year. In Finland, according to a report by the Population Register Centre in 2012, thirty babies were named Madonna, most of them since singer's emergence.

The singer herself claimed to have never met anyone else with the name other than her mother while growing up. Janaya Wecker from entertainment magazine Men's Health, wrote "Not many new parents have dared to name their kid after the Queen of Pop..." Writing for Omaha World-Herald in 2016, Cleveland Evans, a Bellevue University psychology professor said that Madonna still so rare as a name because "it's the premier example of a rare name so identified with one super-celebrity", further adding that "Madonna won't have many namesakes until parents of newborns no longer think only of the 'high priestess of pop' when they hear or see 'Madonna'".

Beyond its usage, lexicographers such as Iseabail Macleod stated that the name was "made famous" by the American singer. As documents British linguist, David Crystal, she is a "well-known" example of a single-name. The New Zealand Herald's Charlie Gowans-Eglinton said in 2020, the woman became "so globally famous by her mononym that I'd forgotten her surname (Ciccone)". According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, "Madonna is one of the most recognizable names in the world – and not just the world of music."

Trademark
The American singer became one of the earliest celebrities to register her name for trademark in the United States in the 1980s. Her trademark for the name Madonna was also recognized internationally when she won a legal case in 2000 through the United Nations' arbitration at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). In comparison, her fellow British singer Sting's case was denied by WIPO in the same year, because sting was considered "a common English word".

JD Supra Business Advisor, explored a "scandalous" case in the 1930s after an intent to register the "Madonna Wine", with complainers arguing the word has been recognized in several English-speaking countries as an associated with Mary; in contrast, website further adds in the post 1979-years, the "singer altered and distracted from the previous and exclusive reference to the Virgin Mary". In 1993, The Trademark Reporter mentioned another case by saying "apparently, the term 'Madonna' was still believed to be generally understood as referring to the Virgin Mary in 1959. Whether that might be found true in 1993 is another question".

Given name

 * Madonna (born Madonna Louise Ciccone, 1958), American singer, songwriter, actress
 * Madonna Blyth (born 1985), Australian field hockey player
 * Madonna Buder (born 1930), Roman Catholic religious sister and Senior Olympian triathlete
 * Madonna Constantine, American psychology and education professor
 * Madonna Gimotea (born 1974), retired gymnast from Canada
 * Madonna Harris (born 1956), New Zealand multi-sportswoman
 * Madonna King, Australian journalist, author, and media commentator
 * Madonna Oriente (died 1390), alleged religious figure
 * Madonna Sebastian (born 1992), Indian actress and singer
 * Madonna Soctomah, Passamaquoddy politician from Maine
 * Madonna Staunton (1938–2019) Australian artist and poet
 * Madonna Swan (1928–1993), American Indian writer
 * Madonna Tassi, Canadian vocalist
 * Madonna Thunder Hawk (born 1940), Native American civil rights activist
 * Madonna Marie Hines, the birth name of American singer Marie Hines

Surname

 * Armando Madonna (born 1963), Italian football manager and former player
 * Jon C. Madonna, retired, business executive
 * G. Terry Madonna, professor
 * Matthew Madonna (1935–2020), street boss of the Lucchese crime family
 * Paul Madonna (born 1972), American artist
 * Nicola Madonna (born 1986), Italian footballer

Alias and stage name

 * Madonna, a nickname of Joan Baez
 * Madonna (nickname), a moniker of several individuals after the American singer
 * Madonna Wayne Gacy, from the band Marilyn Manson
 * Madonna, leader of 1990s gang 5T
 * The Blessed Madonna (born Marea Stamper, 1977), American DJ
 * Madonna Celia, pseudonym of a sixteenth century Roman woman, author of Lettere amorose (circa, 1562)