girl's name
Magali
ma-ga-LEE
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 78,189
Magali is Occitan rather than French, and it means of Magdala — a town on the Sea of Galilee, so the name is a place several removes back rather than any quality of its bearer.
- Magali is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1973, when 4,005 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 117,911 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1901.
Magali over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 50 |
| 1910s | 70 |
| 1920s | 160 |
| 1930s | 235 |
| 1940s | 545 |
| 1950s | 1,410 |
| 1960s | 12,485 |
| 1970s | 36,075 |
| 1980s | 19,305 |
| 1990s | 3,265 |
| 2000s | 465 |
| 2010s | 85 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 20 |
What Magali means
Magali means of Magdala, a town on the Sea of Galilee. It is a locational byname carried through Magdalene, so it records origin rather than describing a person.
Where Magali comes from
Magali is the Occitan form of Magdalene, from Magdala on the Sea of Galilee — so Mary Magdalene means Mary of Magdala, working exactly as Jesus of Nazareth does. Occitan is the language of southern France, distinct from French and closer to Catalan, and it produced a separate stock of names that spread north in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Mistral used Magali in a song within his epic Mirèio, which carried it beyond Provence.
Magali in use
Magali peaked in France in 1973, when 4,005 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in two of the seven markets we track — 4,528th in the United States on 31 births and 7055th in France on 5 — across 78,189 lifetime births. The United States now ranks it above France, which is the reverse of what an Occitan name should do.
How popular is Magali?
In 2025, Magali was given to 5 babies in France. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Magali is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Magali
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Magali also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Magali over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Magali in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Magali
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Magali — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Magali
What does the name Magali mean?
Of Magdala — a town on the Sea of Galilee, through Magdalene.
Is Magali French?
Occitan, the language of southern France, which is distinct from French and closer to Catalan.
Is it related to Madeleine?
Yes — both descend from Magdalene by different routes.
How popular is Magali?
7055th in France and 4528th in the United States.
Is Magali a girl's or a boy's name?
Magali is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
Is Magali a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Magali currently ranks #4,528 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.