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
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
phrase ''ma donna'' which means "my lady". It was later adopted as
one of titles for
Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
in
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
tradition in the 17th century.
According to various international observers, including linguists, the name has become prominently associated with American singer
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
since the 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
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, 15 specialized agencies of the United Nation ...
(WIPO).
Etymology and title for Mary, mother of Jesus
![Thomas Dekker, Blurt Master Constable (1602)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Thomas_Dekker%2C_Blurt_Master_Constable_%281602%29.jpg)
Madonna comes from
Old Italian language words of ''ma'' ("my") and ''donna'' ("lady").
In modern Italian, "my lady" is translated as ''mia donna''.
The name is alternatively spelled as ''Madona'' and ''Madonnah''. Its short-form nicknames include ''
Maddy
Maddy or Maddie is a shortened form of the feminine given names Madeleine, Madelyn, Madison, etc.
People
* Maddy Crippen (born 1980), American medley swimmer
* Maddy English (1925–2004), American professional baseball player
* Maddy Evans ( ...
'', ''Maddie'', ''
Madge'', and ''
Donna
Donna may refer to the short form of the honorific ''nobildonna'', the female form of Don (honorific) in Italian.
People
* Donna (given name); includes name origin and list of people and characters with the name
* Roberto Di Donna (born 1968), ...
''. Madonna was first attested in the 16th century as a respectful form of address to an
Italian woman.
It became a
loanword
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because th ...
to English language in 1584, defining as "an idealized virtuous and beautiful woman" (''
Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the titl ...
'', 1998).
Madonna was also used to mean "
prostitute
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...
" 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
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...
, in the
17th century
The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural moveme ...
(circa the
1640s).
The term has not been present in general Christianity, but is particular to
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
tradition. It was not used by
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
denomination which dominated the American religious
cultural landscape
Cultural landscape is a term used in the fields of geography, ecology, and heritage studies, to describe a symbiosis of human activity and environment. As defined by the World Heritage Committee, it is the "cultural properties hatrepresent the co ...
at the time, "making it a particular metaphor for a certain kind of grouping of characteristics".
Agents such as
Stephen Knapp have referred to the word as a "Catholic term",
with an author from Foundations Bible College calling it a symbol of purity and
virginity
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
in
Romanism.
With the
definite article
An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech.
In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...
(''
the Madonna
In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...
''), 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
The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The univ ...
, is translated into English as "Our Lady", and that term is also known in other languages of
traditionally Catholic regions as ''Nuestra Señora'' (Spanish), ''Notre-Dame'' (French), ''Nossa Senhora'' (
Portuguse) or ''Unsere liebe Frau'' (German).
Traditionally, ''the Madonna'' is used for "images of Mary holding the infant Jesus... More rarely, it's used for images that depict Mary without Jesus."
In modern times, as reported Ginny Kubitz Moyer of ''
Busted Halo'', the term is very familiar to
art historian
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
s thanks to Marian arts.
Many have follow the distinction when it comes to Mary holding the infant or without him to apply the term.
In a 1957 article from linguistic journal ''
Transactions of the Philological Society
''Transactions of the Philological Society'' is a linguistics journal published three times a year by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Philological Society. It has appeared since 1854, making it the oldest scholarly linguistics journal. It is curr ...
'', the word is defined as "essentially a term of
art criticism
Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...
and hardly belongs to the religious language of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
".
Mary's influence is also noted in terms such as the
Madonna–whore complex
In psychoanalytic literature, a Madonna–whore complex, also called a Madonna–mistress complex, is the inability to maintain sexual arousal within a committed, loving relationship. First identified by Sigmund Freud, under the rubric of ''psychic ...
, also known as "the Virgin/whore complex" in some cultures, and has been used as a Christian teaching about sexuality and the female body. In other cultures, like the
modern Japan, historically the word ''Madonna'' has little to do with Mary according to the
International Comparative Literature Association
The International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA) (French: Association Internationale de Littérature Comparée—AILC) is an international organization for international research in comparative literature.
Founded in 1954, ICLA pro ...
. The popularity of the word in that country was attributed to novelist
Natsume Sōseki
, born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...
in the early-20th century, when he used it as a nickname for a character in one of his publications.
Others have interpreted the term to mean "virgin" in the broadest sense of the word (virginity) from the original Italian, while more extensively, the word has been used for others as to mean all sorts of things about women.
Late 20th-century effects
![Madonna-Revista Pelo 1985](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Madonna-Revista_Pelo_1985.jpg)
19th-century writer
Thomas Adolphus Trollope
Thomas Adolphus Trollope (29 April 1810 – 11 November 1892) was an English writer who was the author of more than 60 books. He lived most of his life in Italy creating a renowned villa in Florence with his first wife, Theodosia, and later ...
described the term "Madonna", as ''
in extenso
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* Independ ...
'' "appropriated exclusively to the Holy Virgin".
The ''in extenso'' association to Mary was affected after the advent of
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
(born Madonna Louise Ciccone, 1958), an American singer who's given name and
middle name
In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname.
A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial.
A person may be ...
were taken from her mother, Madonna Louise ().
For example, the
semiotician
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves Sign (semiotics), signs, where a sign is defined as anything that commun ...
Victorino Zecchetto explained that in the
Western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
system of meanings, "Madonna" evoked only the Virgin Mary, but after the appearance of the singer, the
semantic
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...
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". She was also included in the definition of the word in print or online
dictionaries
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, p ...
like
Collins English Dictionary
The ''Collins English Dictionary'' is a printed and online dictionary of English. It is published by HarperCollins in Glasgow.
The edition of the dictionary in 1979 with Patrick Hanks as editor and Laurence Urdang as editorial director, was ...
, ''
Oxford Dictionary of English
The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''ODE'') is a single-volume English dictionary published by Oxford University Press, first published in 1998 as ''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (''NODE''). The word "new" was dropped from the titl ...
'' (2010), and ''
Online Etymology Dictionary'',
to
reference work
A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...
s of
general knowledge
General knowledge is information that has been accumulated over time through various mediums and sources. It excludes specialized learning that can only be obtained with extensive training and information confined to a single medium. General kn ...
.
Traditionalist, high culture and religious laments
Madonna frequently played and explored various
female roles such as
the whore complex, and often employed
religious imagery. In doing so, the singer received attacks from
traditionalists,
high culture
High culture is a subculture that emphasizes and encompasses the cultural objects of aesthetic value, which a society collectively esteem as exemplary art, and the intellectual works of philosophy, history, art, and literature that a society cons ...
authors and religious (especially Catholics);
Maury Dean
Maury Dean is an American musician, author and professor at Suffolk County Community College, whose book "The Rock Revolution" is in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame and the Smithsonian.
Music
Dean taught a "History of Rock N' Roll" course as well ...
documented how the singer was noted for her morality and name coincidence.
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".
Some of these criticism ranged from claiming, "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".
Traditional Catholic
A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays o ...
activist,
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira (December 13, 1908 – October 3, 1995) was a Brazilian intellectual and traditionalist Catholic activist, best known for the foundation of Tradition, Family and Property organization.
Biography Early life
Co ...
used her name with "
quotation mark
Quotation marks (also known as quotes, quote marks, speech marks, inverted commas, or talking marks) are punctuation marks used in pairs in various writing systems to set off direct speech, a quotation, or a phrase. The pair consists of an ...
s".
In her 2015 book, ''The Authority of Women in the Catholic Church'', Catholic theologian Monica Migliorino Miller of the
Madonna University
Madonna University is a private Roman Catholic university in Livonia, Michigan. It was founded as the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Junior College by the Felician Sisters in 1937. It became Madonna College in 1947 and Madonna Univers ...
recognized the
psyche
Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή).
Psyche may also refer to:
Psychology
* Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious
* ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
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.
hehas managed to rise to the center of
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
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".
In a 1991 article for Irish Catholic periodical ''
The Furrow
''The Furrow'' is an Irish Catholic theological periodical published monthly by Maynooth College.
History
It was founded in 1950 by James G. McGarry, Professor of Sacred Eloquence and Pastoral Theology at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. Cano ...
'', catechist Stephanie Walsh explored about the generation gap in a fast-changing society.
Common association with American singer Madonna (b. 1958)
After the debut of singer Madonna in the late 20th century (1980s), the name and term has been heavily associated to her according to several authors and publications. According to the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
, "Madonna is one of the most recognizable names in the world – and not just the world of music."
Explanations vary. For example, anthologist Bruce Lansky, as reported in ''
The Canberra Times
''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times.
History
''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
'', found that although Bible has some influence for perceptions of people's names, pop culture has a greater sway for it. He 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 a 1996 article for academic journal ''
New Theatre Quarterly
''New Theatre Quarterly'' (''NTQ'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering theatre studies. It is published by Cambridge University Press. ''New Theatre Quarterly'' succeeds ''Theatre Quarterly'' (1971–81). Over the years, ''NTQ'' has dev ...
'',
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".
Singer's influence is also noted on the
Internet Age
The Internet Age refers to the time period since the Internet became widely available to the public for general use, and the resulting impacts on and fundamental changes in the nature of global communication and access to information.
The beginni ...
landscape, mainly in simplified results on websites and
search engine
A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
s of general use. For example,
art museum
An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. A ...
Castagnino+macro concurred that the viewpoint of the word "Madonna" has been changing, and Google results, for example, are ''virtually'' limited to Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, ''id est'', Madonna. On the same plain, a contributor from art institution
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...
said that "Madonna as Mary doesn't even show up on the first five pages of a simple Google search", further describing the singer in this comparison as "the more instantly recognizable mother figure in
American culture
The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...
". Musician turned-writer
Alina Simone
Alina Simone (born Alina Vilenkin) is an American musician and writer. She is best known for her original songwriting, her album of cover songs by Russian punk poet Yanka Dyagileva, and her collection of autobiographical essays ''You Must Go And W ...
also noted singer's influence, by saying in ''
Madonnaland
''Madonnaland: And Other Detours in Fame and Fandom'' is a non-fiction book written by American essayist and musician Alina Simone. It is a biography of American singer Madonna, as well the author's own analysis of music and pop culture. Upon i ...
'' (2016) "Google Madonna's name and the mother of Jesus is nowhere in sight".
In her investigation, she described as "crushing" the flood of the information on the singer that are in constantly "growing".
Popularity
![Madonna in 3 weeks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Madonna_in_3_weeks.jpg)
Various international observers agreed that Madonna is a rare name for babies, even among
Catholic population.
It was not used as a
given name
A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...
in Italy and was first used as a name by
Italian American
Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
s. The oldest Madonna in the
United States census is Madonna Klotz (born 1843), daughter of John and Julianna in Philadelphia.
The US
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
's yearly baby name lists started in 1880, but Madonna only began entering the top-1,000 position in 1909.
The name 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.
The singer herself claimed to have never met anyone else with the name other than her mother while growing up.
Janaya Wecker from ''
Men's Health
''Men's Health'' (''MH''), published by Hearst, is the world's largest men's magazine brand, with 35 editions in 59 countries. It is also the best-selling men's magazine on U.S. newsstands.
Started as a men's health magazine by Rodale, Inc. ...
'' wrote "Not many new parents have dared to name their kid after the
Queen of Pop..." Writing for ''
Omaha World-Herald
The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...
'' in 2016, Cleveland Evans, a
Bellevue University
Bellevue University is a private university in Bellevue, Nebraska. It opened in 1966 as Bellevue College and from the outset has focused on providing adult education and educational outreach. As of 2011, 80% of its undergraduates were aged 25 ...
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
Iseabail C. Macleod (27 May 1936 – 15 February 2018) was a Scottish lexicographer.
Early life
Iseabail C. Macleod was born in Dalmuir, in West Dunbartonshire. Her parents were native Gaelic speakers. Her father was a policeman. In child ...
agree that the name was "made famous" by the singer.
As documents British linguist,
David Crystal
David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic, and prolific author best known for his works on linguistics and the English language.
Family
Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 6 July 1941 after his mother had ...
, she is a well-known example of a
single-name.
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
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, 15 specialized agencies of the United Nation ...
(WIPO). In comparison, her fellow British singer
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
's case was denied by WIPO in the same year, because ''
sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
'' 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 popular in several English-languages countries associated with Mary; in contrast, website further adds that 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
''The Trademark Reporter'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal covering trademark law and related topics. It was first established in 1911 and is published by the International Trademark Association
The International Trademark Associati ...
'' 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".
List of people
Given name
*
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
(born Madonna Louise Ciccone, 1958), American singer, songwriter, actress
*
Madonna Blyth
Madonna Blyth (born 30 November 1985) is an Australian field hockey player who competed in the 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed ...
(born 1985), Australian field hockey player
*
Madonna Buder (born 1930), Roman Catholic religious sister and Senior Olympian triathlete
*
Madonna Constantine
Madonna G. Constantine was an American psychology and education professor who formerly taught at Teachers College, Columbia University. She was fired in 2008 on grounds of plagiarism.
Education and early career
Constantine earned a B.S. in psych ...
, American psychology and education professor
*
Madonna Gimotea (born 1974), retired gymnast from Canada
*
Madonna Harris
Madonna Mary Harris (née Gilchrist, born 15 August 1956) is a New Zealand multi-sportswoman who has competed for New Zealand at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The only other New Zealander to compete at both Olympics is Chris Nicholson. ...
(born 1956), New Zealand multi-sportswoman
*
Madonna King
Madonna King is an Australian journalist, author and media commentator.
From 2006 until 2011, King presented ''Mornings'' on ABC Radio Brisbane.
As an author, King has published several books, including the biographies of notable Australians Ia ...
, Australian journalist, author, and media commentator
*
Madonna Oriente Madonna Oriente or Signora Oriente (Lady of the East), also known as La Signora del Gioco (The Lady of the Game), are names of an alleged religious figure, as described by two Italian women who were executed by the Inquisition in 1390 as witches.
T ...
(died 1390), alleged religious figure
*
Madonna Sebastian (born 1992), Indian actress and singer
*
Madonna Soctomah, Passamaquoddy politician from Maine
*
Madonna Staunton
Madonna Pearl Staunton (6 October 1938– 16 December 2019) was an artist and poet who lived in Brisbane. She is known for her works on Australian Modernism.
Background and career
Madonna Staunton was born in Murwillumbah on 6 October 1938 an ...
(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 (band), Marilyn Manson
* Madonna, leader of 1990s gang 5T (gang), 5T
* The Blessed Madonna (born Marea Stamper, 1977), American DJ
Notes
References
{{Madonna
English feminine given names
Madonna