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Malena

Only about 150 women in Poland carry it, so most Poles will never meet one. It comes from Magdalena, tracing back to the town of Magdala, and today it goes to fewer and fewer girls.

Malena Pronunciation

Malena is pronounced mah-LE-nah (/maˈlɛna/).

Alive in 2025
152
Newborns 2025
<2
National rank
#2637

What Malena means

Where Malena comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.

Malena comes to Polish through a Slavic reshaping of Magdalena, the longer name that goes back to Magdala, a town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. So the short meaning runs plainly: from Magdala, by way of Magdalena. The city gave its name to Mary Magdalene, and the name has held that reference ever since.

Beyond Poland, Malena settled into several languages at once. In Spanish it stands as a warm short form of Magdalena, and it gained a life of its own in 1941, when Homero Manzi wrote the lyrics to the tango "Malena", still among the most beloved in the genre. Scandinavians use Malena as a form of Magdalena too. Italians know it best from Giuseppe Tornatore's 2000 film "Malèna".

Say it once. The three syllables land softly, without a hard edge.

For a Polish child the name arrives without a fixed name-day of its own, so families often borrow the imieniny of Magdalena on 22 July. That is the thread back to the source: Malena, from Magdala, through Magdalena.

How many people are named Malena

1 in 148315 women in Poland is named Malena. 152 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #2637 among female names.

People with the name Malena 2019 → 2025
152 +43 since 2019
2020 116 +7
2021 121 +5
2022 128 +7
2023 139 +11
2024 147 +8
2025 152 +5

Malena's popularity over time

Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been climbing since 2025.

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<2 newborns with the name Malena in 2025
below the publication floor that year

Where parents choose Malena

Malena is most popular in West Pomeranian, 1180% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+205%).

Chosen most
  • West Pomeranian
    +1,180%
    1 in 42,213 babies
  • Masovian
    +205%
    1 in 177,133 babies

Malena as a middle name

Malena is a first name for 152 women in Poland and a middle name for another 23, an 87/13 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1497th, between Luh (23) and Natali (23).

As a first name
152
As a middle name
23
first name 87% middle name 13%
Middle-name ranking women

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