Magaly
Feminine · “pearl”
Magaly comes from Provence. Magali is the Occitan form of Margarita, and it belongs to one of the best-known songs in the language — a duet in a nineteenth-century Provençal poem that half of southern France still knows.
How old is the name Magaly?
Magaly first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Magaly alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 5,200 people named Magaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Magaly most popular?
Magaly peaked in 1994, reaching #1191 nationally. Today it ranks #3067, 1,876 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From margarites to Magaly
The story of Magaly
Frederic Mistral's Mireio, published in 1859, is a long poem in Provençal that won its author a Nobel prize and helped keep the language alive; the song of Magali inside it became a standard, sung at weddings and festivals across the south of France. The name spread from there into French and then into Spanish-speaking countries, where Magaly and Magali are both used. It reaches United States records mostly from Mexican and Caribbean families rather than from France.
Meaning
pearl
Margarita is Greek margarites, 'pearl', which Greek took from an eastern language — Persian or Sanskrit — along with the pearls themselves. Occitan Magali is a form of it, and the reading travels down unchanged. The -y ending is a French and Spanish spelling of the same name.
How the name formed
- margarites
- Margarita
- Magali
- Magaly
Related forms: Magali · Magali · Magaly · Margaret
Pronouncing Magaly
mah-gah-LEE
Three syllables with the stress on the last, in French and Spanish alike. English speakers say MAG-uh-lee, moving the stress to the front, which changes the shape noticeably.
Nicknames for Magaly
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
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 2001169 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1191reached in 1994
- Change vs 2023
- +1.9%53 in 2025, from 52
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.
Magaly in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Magali in Occitan — spelling variant
- Magali in French — same name
- Magaly in Spanish — same name
- Margaret in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Magalys among us
people named Magaly are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 30,326 born in 2025 was named Magaly
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Magaly
- #3067
- Magaly on the 2025 chart
- #876
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Magaly went to 53 girls in 2025, but Magali is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 84, which makes it the 876th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,191 places above the chart.
- Magaly53
- Magali31
About 1 girl in 19,134 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 30,326 for Magaly itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Natividad test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Magaly's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Natividad climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Natividad's path sketches the road Magaly is walking now.
Magaly 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
Where Magaly is headed
Magaly should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Magaly beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Magaly in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented origin with an unusually specific and charming literary history.
- Maga and Maggie are both usable short forms in different languages.
- Three syllables that read correctly in Spanish and French at first sight.
- The stress falls at the end in French and Spanish and at the front in English.
- Magaly, Magali, Magalie and Magally all circulate and none is standard.
- Outside Spanish and French communities it will be spelled out every time.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Magaly to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Magaly? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Magaly
Feminine · #3067 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Magalys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,200 people named Magaly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Magaly?
- Magaly is the most-used spelling in US records — 53 of the 84 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Magali.
- How popular is the name Magaly in 2025?
- Magaly ranks #3067 among US girl names in 2025, with 53 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Magaly?
- About 1 in every 30,326 US girls born in 2025 was named Magaly — 53 in all.
- Will my child share the name Magaly with classmates?
- Magaly will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Magaly
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Xitlaly#3067 · Finlee#3067 · Evany#3067 · Stacey#3067 · Mahnoor#3067 · Fabiola#3067 · Anissa#3067 · Melodi#3067
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Magaly? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Magaly and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle