Meaning and background
The story behind Madalena
Madalena is the Portuguese form of Magdalena, part of the biblical name family associated with Mary Magdalene and her connection to the place called Magdala. It is not a Portuguese word that independently means “tower” in ordinary speech; that gloss belongs to the earlier place-name discussion. European and Brazilian Portuguese pronunciations differ slightly, so a dog’s owners may choose the version familiar in their community.
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About Madalena
Recorded as a dog’s name
Madalena appears in 5 dog licence records in the 2026 New York City dataset.
How to read this count
These records cover New York City and may count the same dog in more than one licence period. They are not a national popularity ranking.
Pronunciation and rhythm
/mædəleɪnə/
US English sound sequence, converted from the CMU dictionary. Stress marks are shown separately.
Stress on the third syllable in the recorded US readings.
View dictionary notation
/mædəleɪnə/ · primary stress on syllable 3M AE2 D AH0 L EY1 N AH0
These are US dictionary readings. Personal, regional and other language pronunciations may differ.
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Sources and research notes (2)
- New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene NYC Dog Licensing Dataset — extract_year 2026 — Dog licence periods, not unique dogs; NYC only. No owner-level fields retrieved.
- Carnegie Mellon University / CMU Sphinx maintainers CMU US English Pronouncing Dictionary — US English dictionary readings; not owner-specific or exhaustive multilingual pronunciation
References support the individual facts shown. A source link does not mean the entire profile has been verified.