Magdalene
Feminine · “of Magdala”
Magdalene began as a description of where someone was from — Magdala, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee — and became one of the most widely traveled names in Europe on the strength of a single figure in the Gospels. English speakers once said it "MAUDLIN," which is how Magdalen College at Oxford is still pronounced today. It has been on American records since the earliest years such records were kept, thinned out for decades, and is being written on birth certificates again.
How old is the name Magdalene?
Magdalene was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Magdalene alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 5,200 people named Magdalene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Magdalene most popular?
Magdalene peaked in 1904, reaching #430 nationally. Today it ranks #1341, 911 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Magdalene appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Magdala to Magdalene
The story of Magdalene
The name comes from the Greek of the New Testament, where Mary Magdalene is distinguished from the other Marys by her town: Magdalēnē, the one from Magdala. Latin turned it into Magdalena, and from there it spread into nearly every European language — Maddalena in Italy, Madeleine in France, Magdalena across Spain, Germany and Poland. Medieval English clipped and softened it to Maudlin, and because artists so often painted the Magdalene weeping, that pronunciation became the ordinary English word for tearful sentimentality. The tidier Latin-looking Magdalene is the form that reached American records and stayed.
Meaning
of Magdala; the town name comes from an Aramaic word for tower
Magdalene is not a word-name but a place epithet: the woman from Magdala. The tower sense belongs to the town, not to the person.
How the name formed
- Magdala
- Magdalēnē
- Magdalena
- Maudlin
- Magdalene
Related forms: Magdalena · Madeleine · Maddalena · Magdalini · Malin · Marlene
Pronouncing Magdalene
MAG-duh-leen
Also said MAG-duh-lin, and in German-speaking families mag-dah-LAY-nuh. All three are correct for the same spelling, so expect to state your preference more than once.
Nicknames for Magdalene
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
- 1918185 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #430reached in 1904
- Change vs 2022
- +36.4%165 in 2025, from 121
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.
Magdalene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Magdalena in Spanish, German, Polish — same name
- Madeleine in French — same name
- Maddalena in Italian — same name
- Magdalini in Greek — same name
- Malin in Swedish — related form
- Marlene in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Indiana.
Magdalenes among us
people named Magdalene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 9,741 born in 2025 was named Magdalene
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
Magdalene is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Magdalene is headed
Magdalene looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Magdalene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Magdalene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unbroken written record from the Greek Gospels through Latin, medieval English and every modern European language.
- Unusually rich in ready-made short forms: Maggie, Maddie, Magda, Lena — formal and informal versions built in from the start.
- Recognizable on sight almost anywhere, thanks to close cousins like Magdalena, Madeleine and Maddalena.
- Familiar in sound while rare in practice, so it needs no explaining but is unlikely to be duplicated in a classroom.
- Three pronunciations circulate for this one spelling, and people will also default to the more common Magdalena or Madeleine. Correcting and re-spelling will be a lifelong small task.
- The link to Mary Magdalene is inseparable from the name. For many families that is the whole point; for others it makes the name feel more devotional than they intend.
- In Ireland and beyond, "Magdalene" also names the institutions known as the Magdalene laundries — worth knowing about, though it is not what most Americans hear first.
- Four syllables means it will be shortened by others whether or not you choose a nickname, so it helps to like at least one of them.
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What they receive
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Magdalene
Feminine · #1341 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Magdalenes 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 Magdalene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Magdalene in 2025?
- Magdalene ranks #1341 among US girl names in 2025, with 165 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Magdalene?
- About 1 in every 9,741 US girls born in 2025 was named Magdalene — 165 in all.
- Will my child share the name Magdalene with classmates?
- Magdalene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Magdalene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Adalina#1341 · Anita#1341 · Samadhi#1341 · Liya#1341 · Wendy#1341 · Livvy#1341 · Zaliyah#1339 · Rebeca#1339
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Magdalene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Magdalene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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