Widely found throughout Europe; originally Hebrew "woman of Magdala", a village on Lake Galilee; NT Gospels.

In the 1841 Census of Aberdeenshire this name occurs with significant frequency, with the spelling Magdalene twice as frequent as Magdalen. There are many variations in the spelling but all should respond to Soundex searching, except the common abbreviation Magd.

To some extent Magdalen and Madeline/Madeleine [and their variants] can be interchangeable in some family situations.

A correspondent [JP] notes that her "g-grandmother was born Magdalene ... [and was] ... also known as Madeline".

In France, Magdalene is thought to be the more learned form of Madeleine.

The 1851 Census of Rathen parish has the spellings Magdalean, Magdlean and Magdlen, all of which should be found by Soundex. However it also has Magglin which, if it does arise, would not be found even by advanced search methods.