Given name
Malene
“woman from Magdala”
Malene is a variant of Madeline. One Hebrew interpretation is “woman from Magdala.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Malene is a variant of Madeline. One Hebrew interpretation is “woman from Magdala.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Malene is a variant of Madeline. An origin associated with Madeline is Hebrew.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In Danish use, Malene is used as a contracted form of Magdalene.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Malene through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 164
- 0 boys · 164 girls
- Most popular year
- 1977
- 10 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 2006. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 10 in 1977. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 428 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Malene’s family of names
Malene shares a linguistic root with Magdalene. Malene has a related form in Madeline. Malene is a contracted form of Magdalene.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 5
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Malene
- Malene MortensenDanish singerborn 1982
- Malene SchwartzDanish actressborn 1936
- Malene HelgøNorwegian tennis playerborn 1999
- Malene DegnDanish cyclistborn 1996
- Malene KejlstrupDanish BMX riderborn 2002
- Malene HauxnerDanish landscape architect and author (1942–2012)
- Malene EspensenDanish glamour modelborn 1978
- Malene Vahl RasmussenGreenlandic politicianborn 1994
- Malene MarquardDanish footballerborn 1983
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Malene, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Marlena
Marlena is a feminine given name. It is used in English, Polish, Catalan, and Faroese.
>99% girls
Mandy
“one who is much loved”
>99% girls
Marcie
“dedicated to Mars, the god of war”
>99% girls
Malerie
>99% girls
Marya
“star of the sea” · “from the sea of bitterness”
>99% girls
Amie
“beloved” · “dearly loved”
>99% girls
Melony
“a dark-skinned beauty”
>99% girls
Ariane
“resembling silver” · “one who is holy”
>99% girls