The word itself is believed to be a mere adjective of place, meaning that she came from Magdala, which, in its turn, means a tower or castle, and is represented by the little village of Mejdel, on the lake of Tiberias, so that her proper designation would be Mary of Magdala, i. e. of the tower, probably to distinguish her from Mary of Bethany with whom she is confounded.
It is curious to observe how infinitely more popular her name has been than her sister’s, i. e. accepting the mediæval belief that they were sisters. The Marfa of Russia is of course like the English Martha, Matty, Patty, the true housewifely Martha, independent of the legend of the dragon, and has there been a royal name occurring frequently among the daughters of the earlier Tzars; and the Martha used in Ireland is only as an equivalent for the native Erse Meabhdh, Meave, or Mab, once a great Irish princess, who has since become the queen of the fairies. Martha used also to be used for Mor. But the Marthe and Marthon of the south of France, and the rarer Marta of Italy and Spain, were all from the Provençal dragon-slayer, and as to the popularity of Magdalen, the contractions in the following table will best prove it:
| English. | German. | Swiss. | Danish. |
| Magdalene | Magdalene | Magdalene | Magdelene |
| Maudlin | Madlen | Malin | |
| Maun | Lene | Leli | Magli |
| Madeline | Lenchen | Mali | |
| Italian. | French. | Polish. | Servian. |
| Maddalena | Magdelaine | Magdelina | Mandelina |
| Spanish. | Mazaline—old | Magdusia | Manda |
| Magdalena | Madeleine | Magdosia | |
| Madelena | Madelon | Madde | |
| Lusatian. | Esthonian. | Ung. | Lettish. |
| Madlena | Madli | Magdalena | Madlene |
| Marlena | Mai | Magdolna | Maddalene |
| Marlenka | Male | Madde | |
| Madlenka |
The penitent Mary of Egypt has had her special votaresses. Maria Egyptiaca was a princess of Oettingen in 1666.[[14]]
[12]. Proper Names of the Bible; Liddell and Scott’s Greek Lexicon; Butler’s Lives of the Saints; Dean Stanley.
[13]. Marriott occurs in a Cornish register as a feminine in 1666.
[14]. Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible; Michaelis; Jameson’s Legends of the Madonna; Sacred and Legendary Art; Romancero del Cid; Warton’s History of Poetry; Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie; O'Donovan, On Irish Names; Festivals and their Household Words; Christian Remembrancer; Mme. Calderon de la Borca, Mexico.
Section II.—Elisheba, &c.
The names of the wife and son of Aaron bring us to a style of nomenclature that was very frequent among the Israelites at the period of the Exodus, and had begun even earlier. This was the habit of making the name contain a dedication to the Deity, by beginning or ending it with a word of Divine signification.