← Back to The High and Late Middle Ages
Girl · Hebrew, through Greek
Magdalene
Say it: MAG-duh-leen
Meaning
Greek Magdalēnē, 'woman of Magdala', a town whose name comes from Hebrew migdal 'tower'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Spread across medieval Europe with the cult of Mary Magdalene; the French form Madeleine became popular in English in the 20th century.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1900s
In the United States
- 9,315 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1904, about 1 in 4,900 girls
- 110 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
HebrewEarly ChristianEnglishFrenchSpanishItalianGermanPolishHungarian
The family of the name
Other spellings: Magdalen, Madeline, Madeleine
| French | Madeleine |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Magdalena |
| Italian | Maddalena |
| Portuguese | Madalena |
| German | Magdalena |
| Polish | Magdalena |
| Hungarian | Magdolna |
| Greek | Magdalini |
Famous bearers
- Mary Magdalene, follower of Jesus
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Calendars of saints and name days
- Parish baptism registers
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.