Last name origin & meaning: English: from the Middle English vernacular form, Maudeleyn,
of the New Testament Greek personal name Magdalēnē. This
is a byname, meaning ‘woman from Magdala’ (a village on the Sea
of Galilee, deriving its name from Hebrew migdal ‘tower’),
denoting the woman cured of evil spirits by Jesus (Luke 8:2), who
later became a faithful follower. In Christian folk belief she was
generally identified with the repentant sinner who washed Christ’s
feet with her tears in Luke 7; hence the name came to be used as a
byname for a prostitute, also a tearful woman. The popularity of the
personal name increased with the supposed discovery of her relics in
the 13th century.
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