Madonna's Real Name: Madonna Louise Ciccone

Quick answer: Madonna's full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. She was born on August 16, 1958, in Bay City, Michigan, and performs under the mononym Madonna drawn from her first name (Britannica Kids; LOC).

Real name and early life

Britannica and the Library of Congress identify Madonna Louise Ciccone. Madonna is her given first name (shared with her mother); Louise is the middle name; Ciccone is the Italian-American family surname. There is no invented legal first name behind the mononym. She studied dance at the University of Michigan, performed with the Alvin Ailey company in New York, worked a Paris disco revue in 1979, then returned to New York rock and dance scenes before her self-titled debut album in 1983 yielded “Holiday,” “Borderline,” and “Lucky Star.”

Career highlights

Like a Virgin (1984) made her a global superstar; subsequent albums including True Blue, Like a Prayer, Ray of Light, Music, and Confessions on a Dance Floor kept reinventing her sound from dance-pop to electronica. Iconic videos and tours—especially Blond Ambition—paired musical hits with tightly controlled image-making. She founded the Maverick imprint, acted in films including Desperately Seeking Susan and the Golden Globe–winning Evita, and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Across four decades as “Queen of Pop,” encyclopedias retain Madonna Louise Ciccone behind the single-name brand. Category note for site editors: she belongs with singers/musicians, not actors.

Control of image, touring, and business deals helped her set precedents for women artists negotiating power in the recorded-music industry.

Searchers should cross-check birth dates and spellings against the Sources list rather than unsourced social posts.

Name notes for searchers

Yes—her birth first name really is Madonna. Prefer Britannica and LOC over rumor sites claiming otherwise. Wikipedia is a pointer after primary citations.