Madsen

Madsen is a Danish patronymic surname meaning “son of Mads,” with Mads being a Danish given name derived from Matthias. The suffix -sen indicates “son,” so the name originally identified someone as the son of a man named Mads and gradually became a hereditary family surname.

The surname is most common in Denmark and is also found among Norwegian and other Nordic-descended communities. It has spread to other regions through migration, particularly in North America and parts of Europe. Variants and related spellings that appear in records include Maddison, Maddsen, and Madson, reflecting phonetic changes and transliteration in different languages and eras. In Norwegian, related patronymics such as Mathisen serve a similar cultural function.

Notable bearers of the name appear across a range of fields, including arts, science, sports, and public life, primarily in Danish contexts but with a presence in international settings where families with Danish heritage have settled. The surname is also encountered in fictional works and in corporate or organizational names that signal Danish origin or lineage.

For further context, Madsen is frequently cited in onomastic discussions as a representative example of Nordic patronymic surname formation, illustrating how given names gave rise to hereditary family names in Danish-speaking regions.