Magdalen

Where Magdalen comes from

The dictionaries list Magdalen as a given name — a female given name from Hebrew, variant of Magdalene — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Hebrew
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #679 among girls — 7 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1887
    Peak, #499
    20 babies named Magdalen — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1889
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #902.
  4. 1947
    Magdalen Nabb born
    British writer known for crime fiction and children's fiction
  5. 1983
    Magdalen Berns born
    software developer and feminist
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Hebrew, variant of Magdalene.
Namesakes
  • Magdalen Nabb · British writer known for crime fiction and children's fiction, 1947–2007
  • Magdalen Berns · software developer and feminist, 1983–2019
  • Magdalen Dacre · English noble and Catholic recusant, 1538–1608
  • Magdalen Hall · British woman, wife of Colonel William Howe de Lancey (neé Hall), 1793–1822

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.