Named after the place de la Madeleine and its church, dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
The name also recalls a village that grew up in the 6th century west of Paris around a fief of the bishop of Paris; soon called La Ville-l'Évêque, it had its chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene in the 13th century. Napoleon conceived the present building in 1806 as a temple to his Grande Armée; it became a church in 1845.