Magali
A feminine name of Celtic origin meaning "mighty" or "shining."
Name Census estimates that about 3,389 living Americans carry the first name Magali. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Magali today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Magali births was 2000 (142 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Magali. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Magali with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 101,137 Americans
Peak year
2000
142 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1991 SSA rank
#4,150
Tracked since 1950
Census
Magali in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,853 people with the first name Magali, which placed it at #3,530 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,530
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,853 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Magali
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Magali is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are White (6.9%) and Black (1.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Magali described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Magali at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.9% · 5,319
- White6.9% · 402
- Black or African American1.3% · 79
- Two or more races0.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Magali
Out of the 3,537 babies given the name Magali since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Magali as a male name
- Ranked #7,867 in 1991
- 6 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (6 births)
Magali as a female name
- Ranked #4,150 in 2024
- 35 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (142 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Magali appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,853 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Magali: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Magali from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,051 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Magali by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Magali during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Magalis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Magali, while Utah, Oregon, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 144 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Magali
The name Magali has its origins in the Occitan language, which was historically spoken in southern France and parts of Italy and Spain. It is derived from the Germanic name Amalrich, which means "work ruler" or "powerful ruler." The name Magali likely emerged as a diminutive or nickname form of Amalrich during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Magali can be found in the 12th-century Occitan poem "Cantar de la Crozada" ("Song of the Crusade"), which mentions a character named Magali. This suggests that the name was in use in the region of Occitania during that time period.
In the 19th century, the name Magali gained further popularity due to its inclusion in the 1859 French novel "Mirèio" by Frédéric Mistral. The novel's titular character, Mirèio, has a close friend named Magali, which helped to solidify the name's association with the Provençal region of southern France.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Magali. One of the earliest was Magali de la Tour (c. 1190-1257), a French noblewoman who served as the Countess of Angoulême and Regent of Angoulême during the 13th century.
Another famous Magali was Magali Lena (1890-1986), a French actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions in the early 20th century. She was particularly known for her roles in operettas and musical comedies.
In the field of sports, Magali Aravena (born 1977) is a Chilean former professional tennis player who reached a career-high ranking of No. 27 in the world in 2003. She won two singles titles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Magali Noël (born 1971) is a French singer and actress who rose to prominence in the 1990s with her pop and dance music. She has released several successful albums and has also acted in various French television series and films.
Lastly, Magali Amadei (born 1975) is a French politician who has served as a member of the National Assembly, representing the department of Bouches-du-Rhône since 2017. She is affiliated with the political party La République En Marche!
People
Magali + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Magali as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Magali: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Magali?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,389 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Magali going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 101,137 US residents.
Is Magali a common name?
We classify Magali as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,537 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Magali most popular?
The single biggest year for Magali was 2000, when 142 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Magali is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Magali in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,853 people with the name Magali, or 1.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,530 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Magali in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Magali?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Magali appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,853 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Magali?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Magali is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are White (6.9%) and Black (1.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Magali most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Magali in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (5,319 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Magali in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Magali a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Magali in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Magali still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Magali in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Magali can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Magali?
Find out how many people have the name Magali on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.