The name has become prominently associated with American singer
Madonna 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").[2][3] The Italian word came from the
Latin phrase mea domina (or domina mea),[4][5] which means "my mistress" in English.[6][a] In modern Italian, "my lady" is translated as mia donna.[13] The name is alternatively spelled as Madona, Madonnah,[14] and Madòna.[15] Its short-form nicknames include Maddy, Maddie, Madge, and Donna.[16][17]
With the
definite article (the Madonna), the term appeared as a complimentary term noting a likeness to Mary.[1] 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 with predominantly
Catholic population as Nuestra Señora (Spanish), Notre-Dame (French), Nossa Senhora (Portuguese) or Unsere liebe Frau (German).[30]
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.[31][32] The theme of the Madonna became one of the most popular subjects of Christian Western art,[33] or perhaps the most popular at some extent, popularized by painters of the Middle Ages (such as
Fra Angelico), especially from the Renaissance.[34][35][36] According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the term is usually restricted to Mary's devotional artistic representations rather than narrative, showing her in a non-historical context and to sentimental significances;[37] 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".[38] In modern times, as reported Ginny Kubitz Moyer from Busted Halo, the term is very familiar to
art historians thanks to Marian arts.[31] In the community, some have follow the distinction when it comes to Mary holding the infant or without him to apply the term,[39][40] which is also noted with the usage of the term "Madonna and Child".[41]
Throughout history, the name has acquired other meanings; the word was later used to mean by others all sorts of things about women.[42][43] The term
Madonna–whore complex, also known as "the Virgin/whore complex", has been used as a teaching about sexuality and the female body,[44][45] in some Christian communities. Others have interpreted the term to mean "virgin" as an original Italian word,[46] and motherhood.[20] 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.[42] 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.[47] The American singer
Madonna (born 1958), also had a slight effect on that catchphrase, according to Ardath W. Burks from
Rutgers University.[48]
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".[56] 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.[57] 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".[41]
Common association with American singer Madonna (b. 1958)
Since the 1980s, the name has been particularly associated with the American pop star Madonna Ciccone
After American singer's debut in the 1980s, the name and term have been commonly associated to her according to various authors and international publications.[60][61][62][63] Explorations vary. For instance, anthologist Bruce Lansky, as reported in 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.[64] 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".[65]
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 museumCastagnino+macro concurred that the viewpoints of the word "Madonna" has been changed since its origin, and Google results, for instance, are virtually limited to Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, id est, Madonna.[43] 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".[66] 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".[67] 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.[68]
Other 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.[72] 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".[73] Other commentators claimed that "once it was a name spoken with reverence, but now people have a whole new attitude toward the name",[74] to describe: "Madonna has appropriated the word and turned the intended insult to her advantage".[75]
Popularity
Various international observers agreed that Madonna is a rare name for babies, even among
Catholic population.[78][79] 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.[13] The US
Social Security's yearly baby name lists started in 1880, but Madonna only began entering the top-1,000 position in 1909.[13] The name was mildly popular through most of the first half of the 20th century.[80] 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.[13] 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.[81]
The singer herself claimed to have never met anyone else with the name other than her mother while growing up.[78] Janaya Wecker from entertainment magazine Men's Health, wrote "Not many new parents have dared to name their kid after the
Queen of Pop..."[82] 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'".[13]
Beyond its usage, lexicographers such as
Iseabail Macleod agree that the name was "made famous" by the American singer.[76] As documents British linguist,
David Crystal, she is a "well-known" example of a
single-name.[83]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)".[84] 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."[85]
Trademark
The American singer became one of the earliest celebrities to register her name for trademark in the United States in the 1980s.[86] 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".[87]
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".[88] 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".[89]
List of people
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 Celia, pseudonym of a sixteenth century Roman woman, author of Lettere amorose (circa, 1562)
Notes
^Marian theological-dogmatic and devotional
perspectives vary in Christianity and outside. For instance, author Spencer L. Allen explains in The Splintered Divine (2015) that some scholars "have been tempted to discuss the treatment of Mary [...] in Roman Catholic lay tradition", including British classical scholar
Hugh Lloyd-Jones with
Marian titles (including Madonna).[7] In this root, the term "Madonna" was according to some authors, derived from terms domina/mistress, and materdonna/domina, used prominently for Egyptian antiquity
mother goddess,
Isis, and later
adopted by Catholic priests for Mary (Mother of Jesus).[8][9] Historians like
Will Durant noted the similar correlations, including Nostra Domina ("Our Lady") previously used for
Cybele, known in
Ancient Rome as "The Great Mother of God".[10][11] These correlations, according to authors like Felix R. Paturi in Prehistoric Heritage (1979), were arguably "strongly" rooted within the concept of "Mother of God" (divine mother figure, the dea Madre, the great mother or the Magna Mater) that appeared constantly in rock paintings of
prehistoric times in the
southern Europe, "especially in
Italy".[12]
^Its religious/devotional usage for Mary is commonly dated in the
Renaissance, although her
artistic representations have existed before throughout the early Middle Ages (Sistine Madonna and Golden Madonna of Essen are examples), which according to sources like Chambers's Encyclopaedia, those representations proliferated in the 5th century when Mary was declared to be the "Mother of God" (
Council of Ephesus).[24] In the religious magazine, The Monthly Packet (1875), the origins and usage of the word Madonna is defined as an "usual address to a woman" but "when Madonna began to be used especially for the Blessed Virgin, we cannot say".[25] According to an
University of Oxford scholar, "its use [was] very common in early Italian texts", and is in fact "earlier than its devotional use as a term for 'Mother of Christ'".[15]