Madalene
Feminine · “of Magdala”
This name turned into an English adjective. Magdalene was said maudlin in medieval English — Magdalen College at Oxford is still pronounced that way — and because she was painted weeping in every gallery in Europe, maudlin came to mean tearfully sentimental. Very few names have been demoted to a word for crying too easily.
How old is the name Madalene?
Madalene first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Madalene alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 600 people named Madalene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Madalene most popular?
Madalene peaked in 1915, reaching #1025 nationally. Today it ranks #10917, 9,892 places below that high. See the whole 1915 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From migdal to Madalene
The story of Madalene
Mary of Magdala is named for her town in every Gospel that mentions her, and the town was named for a tower. That is the whole etymology; everything else attached to the name came later. What came later was a great deal. Western art settled on her as the weeping penitent, and English speech shortened the name in the ordinary way, so that Magdalene was said maudlin for centuries — which is how a saint's name became the word for maudlin. French took the same name to Madeleine and gave it to a small shell-shaped cake, and English took Madeleine to Madeline, Madalene and Madalyn. All of them are the same tower.
Meaning
of Magdala, the tower town
Magdalene means from Magdala, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee. Magdala is Aramaic for tower, from the same root as Hebrew migdal. The name identifies a woman by where she came from, which is how the Gospels distinguish one Mary from another.
How the name formed
- migdal
- Magdala
- Magdalene
- Madalene
Related forms: Madeleine · Magdalena · Magdalena · Malin
Pronouncing Madalene
MAD-uh-leen
Three syllables, stress on the first. MAD-uh-lyn, with a reduced ending, is used just as often and follows the spelling Madalyn. The French Madeleine has a nasal ending and no audible n.
Nicknames for Madalene
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 192049 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1025reached in 1915
- Change vs 2020
- +33.3%8 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Madalene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Madeleine in French — same name
- Magdalena in German — same name
- Magdalena in Spanish — same name
- Malin in Swedish — related form
Madalenes among us
people named Madalene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 200,908 born in 2025 was named Madalene
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jesusa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Madalene's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jesusa climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jesusa's path sketches the road Madalene is walking now.
Madalene sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Madalene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Madalene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented meaning that names a real place still on the map.
- Three short forms of very different registers, one of which is a name of its own.
- It is recognized in French, German, Spanish and Swedish without translation.
- Madeline and Madalyn are both commoner spellings, so this one will be corrected constantly.
- The ending is said two ways and the spelling does not settle which.
- It is strongly represented among the oldest generations and carries that clearly.
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What they receive
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Madalene
Feminine · #10917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Madalenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Madalene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Madalene in 2025?
- Madalene ranks #10917 among US girl names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Madalene?
- About 1 in every 200,908 US girls born in 2025 was named Madalene — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Madalene with classmates?
- Madalene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Madalene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Edythe#10917 · Tessie#10917 · Drusilla#10917 · Eugenie#10917 · Ivah#10917 · Karri#10917 · Claribel#10917 · Myrtle#10917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Madalene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Madalene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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