Magalie
A French feminine name meaning "Pearl of the Sea" or "From Magdala".
Name Census estimates that about 254 living Americans carry the first name Magalie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Magalie today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Magalie births was 1976 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Magalie. 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.
People living today
254
~ 1 in 1,349,427 Americans
Peak year
1976
10 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,783
Tracked since 1960
Census
Magalie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,224 people with the first name Magalie, which placed it at #10,742 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
#10,742
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Magalie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Magalie is Black at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.3%) and White (7.7%). 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 Magalie 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 Magalie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.3% · 897
- Hispanic or Latino16.3% · 200
- White7.7% · 94
- Two or more races2.0% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Magalie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Magalie from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 68 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
Magalie 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 Magalie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Magalies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Magalie
The given name Magalie has its origins tracing back to the Late Latin and Old French languages. It is derived from the Late Latin name "Magdalena", which itself came from the Ancient Greek "Magdalēnē". This name was borne by the biblical figure Mary Magdalene, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled variously as "Madalena", "Madeleine", and "Magdelaine" before evolving into the modern French spelling of "Magalie". The root of the name is believed to be from the Aramaic phrase "migdal ednā", meaning "tower" or "elevated, great, magnificent".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Magalie can be found in the 11th century, when it was used by a French noblewoman named Magalie de Vermandois (1010-1076). She was the daughter of Hugh of Vermandois and played a significant role in the politics and affairs of the Kingdom of France during her lifetime.
Another notable historical figure with the name Magalie was Magalie de Martigues (1230-1298), a French mystic and religious writer who founded the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her writings on spirituality and devotion to the Virgin Mary were highly influential during the Middle Ages.
In the 16th century, Magalie Delaunay (1520-1588) was a French poet and author who gained recognition for her works celebrating the beauty of nature and the countryside. Her poetry collection, "Les Fleurs de Magalie", was widely read and appreciated during her lifetime.
Moving forward to the 18th century, Magalie de La Tour d'Auvergne (1743-1800) was a French noblewoman and military officer who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars. She became known for her bravery and leadership on the battlefield, earning the nickname "The Warrior Countess".
In more recent times, Magalie Vaché (1892-1986) was a French artist and painter who was a prominent figure in the Cubist and Fauvist movements. Her bold use of color and geometric forms in her paintings earned her critical acclaim and a place in the annals of modern art history.
The name Magalie, with its rich cultural and historical significance, has endured over the centuries as a beautiful and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with a connection to the past.
People
Magalie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Magalie 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
Magalie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Magalie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Magalie 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 1,349,427 US residents.
Is Magalie a common name?
We classify Magalie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 270 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Magalie most popular?
The single biggest year for Magalie was 1976, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Magalie is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Magalie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,224 people with the name Magalie, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,742 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 Magalie 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 Magalie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Magalie appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,227 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Magalie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Magalie is Black at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.3%) and White (7.7%). 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 Magalie most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Magalie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (897 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 Magalie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Magalie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Magalie 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 Magalie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Magalie 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 Magalie 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 Americans are named Magalie?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.