Overview
Mādhava is a Sanskrit name and epithet most commonly associated with Krishna. It is interpreted as a patronymic meaning "descendant of Madhu", a forebear of the Yadu tribe to which Krishna belonged. The term is widely used in Vaishnava traditions and texts, and also appears as a personal name borne by many figures in Indian religion, philosophy, literature and the sciences.
In a religious sense, Madhava denotes Krishna and, by extension, Vishnu, and is among the names invoked in Vaishnava liturgy and iconography. Icons identified as Madhava form part of the conventional set of Vishnu forms described in Pancharatra and related texts. The word also has a seasonal connotation, referring to springtime and, in some usages, the first month of spring associated with Chaitra.
Several notable persons share the name. Madhava of Sangamagrama was a fourteenth-century mathematician of the Kerala school. Madhvacharya was a philosopher of the Vaishnava tradition. Madhava Vidyaranya, an Advaita saint, was the brother of the Vedic commentator Sayana. Venkata Madhava is known as a commentator on the Rigveda. Madhavdeva was a sixteenth-century proponent of the Ekasarana dharma, the neo-Vaishnava tradition of Assam. Madhava Vagata Srinivas is remembered as a Srivaishnava preacher and philosopher. Madhava, also called Madhava-kara, was an Indian physician active in the seventh or early eighth century.
The name also features prominently in classical Indian literature. Madhava is the titular protagonist of the Sanskrit drama Mālatīmādhava by Bhavabhuti, and a Madhava appears as a character in the eleventh-century story collection Shringara-manjari-katha.
References
Adapted from the English Wikipedia article "Madhava".