English: from the Middle English vernacular form, Maudeleyn, of the New Testament Greek personal name Magdalene. 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.