Magdalena

Meaning: Woman from Magdala
Origin: Variant of Magdalene · The town's name meant tower (from Hebrew)

Nicknames: Lena

Girl's name · #850 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Popularity over time

Magdalena belongs to an older America first — it reached #311 back in 1882 — yet it still appears in today's records at #850. About 20,000 girls have carried it since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Magdalena is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 29 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Magdalena ranks in other countries and regions.

#26 in Austria (2025) · #31 in Czechia (2025) · #40 in Croatia (2025) · #64 in Poland (2025) · #251 in Slovenia (2025) · #355 in Mexico (2024) · #378 in Switzerland (2025) · #604 in Sweden (2025) · #1,392 in England & Wales (2025) · #1,416 in Belgium (2025) · #1,679 in France (2025) · #1,780 in Ecuador (2025) and 1 more.

Famous Magdalenas

Magdalena Andersson — Prime Minister of Sweden from 2021 to 2022, Swedish politician and economist
Magdalena Neuner — Former German biathlete
Magdalena Abakanowicz — Polish textile artist and sculptor (1930–2017)
Magdalena Tul — Polish singer
Magdalena Eriksson — Swedish footballer

In stories & tradition

Magdalena — The Darkness (comics)
Magdalena the Mermaid — The Wiggles (musical)
Magdalena Gojković — Jurmusa and Fatima or Turkish empire eats itself: the story of the liberation of six districts 1832-1834 (book)

What Magdalenas become

Among 2,034 notable people named Magdalena:

Medical professionals appear 1.97× more often than among typical names — e.g. Magdalena Neff, German pharmacist (1881–1966).

Spellings & nicknames

About 1,200 girls a year are given Lena as their full name.

Similar names: Magdalene · Elsa · Marlena · Helena · Mollie · Johanna

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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