Magdalena
Feminine · “of Magdala”
Magdalena is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 19,773 girls against 10 boys since 1880.
Magdalena comes from a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, and it has been traveling ever since — through Greek, Latin, Spanish, Polish, German and Swedish, arriving in each with its spelling almost untouched. Five syllables that fall into an easy rhythm, with a whole shelf of short forms waiting inside it: Magda, Lena, Maggie, Malena.
How old is the name Magdalena?
Magdalena was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Magdalena alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 16,000 people named Magdalena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Magdalena most popular?
Magdalena peaked in 1882, reaching #306 nationally. Today it ranks #849, 543 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Magdalena appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Migdal to Magdalena
The story of Magdalena
The Greek Gospels call one of the women following Jesus Maria hē Magdalēnē — Mary of Magdala — and the Latin Vulgate rendered that as Magdalena. From medieval Latin the name spread across Catholic Europe, settling as Magdalena in Spanish, Polish, German, Czech and Swedish, as Maddalena in Italian and as Madeleine in French. Spanish speakers carried it into the Americas, and Polish, German, Czech and Scandinavian families carried it to the United States, which is part of why it still shows up most strongly in California, Texas and Illinois. It has been on the American record since record-keeping began, without ever disappearing.
Meaning
of Magdala — a town whose name comes from the Hebrew/Aramaic word for tower
Magdalena is a place-name adjective before it is anything else: it identifies someone from Magdala on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. The town's own name traces to migdal, tower.
How the name formed
- Migdal
- Magdalēnē
- Magdalena
- Madeleine
- Malin
Related forms: Magdalena · Magdalena · Maddalena · Madeleine · Madeline · Malin
Pronouncing Magdalena
mag-duh-LAY-nuh
That is the usual English reading. In Spanish, German, Polish and Swedish it is mahg-dah-LEH-nah, with a pure vowel in the stressed syllable. Both are correct for the same spelling, which means a family that spans languages may hear two versions at the same table.
Nicknames for Magdalena
High
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 2007325 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #306reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- +6.3%320 in 2025, from 301
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.
Magdalena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Magdalena in Spanish — same name
- Magdalena in Polish — same name
- Maddalena in Italian — spelling variant
- Madeleine in French — related form
- Madeline in English — related form
- Malin in Swedish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Illinois.
Magdalenas among us
people named Magdalena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 5,023 born in 2025 was named Magdalena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Magdalena 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 Magdalena is headed
Magdalena should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Magdalena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Magdalena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the same way in Spanish, Polish, German, Czech and Swedish, so it crosses borders without needing to be translated or respelled.
- Comes with several long-established short forms — Magda, Lena, Maggie, Malena — each already in independent use.
- An unbroken presence on American records from the earliest years of the data to now, without a fashion spike or a collapse.
- Strongest in California, Texas and Illinois, tracking the Spanish-speaking and Central European communities that brought it.
- Five syllables, and English and Spanish stress them differently. Expect to correct the pronunciation gently and often, and to decide early which version your family uses.
- It sits close to Madeline, Madeleine and Magdalene, and people who half-hear it will reach for one of those. The spelling itself is phonetic, but it is not the one Americans guess first.
- The link to Mary Magdalene is direct and unmistakable, which some families want and others would rather avoid. Related: the English word maudlin descends from her name, though almost no one makes the connection aloud.
- In an American classroom she will most likely be the only one, which means the full name gets used rather than worn down by a same-name neighbor.
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What they receive
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Magdalena
Feminine · #849 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Magdalenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 16,000 people named Magdalena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Magdalena in 2025?
- Magdalena ranks #849 among US girl names in 2025, with 320 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Magdalena?
- About 1 in every 5,023 US girls born in 2025 was named Magdalena — 320 in all.
- Will my child share the name Magdalena with classmates?
- Magdalena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Magdalena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kendra#849 · Lea#848 · Chelsea#851 · Kelly#851 · Indigo#853 · Paula#853 · Anaiah#853 · Ensley#844
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Magdalena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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