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No one had last names as we know them in those days. Occasionally people were known by two or more first names - as examples John/Mark (who wrote Marks gospel), Peter/Simon, Paul/Saul, and even Jesus/Emmanuel. If there were two or more people in an area who had the same name, to differentiate between them, a characteristic, or ancestor, or district from where they came was used.

As an example, James, the brother of John and James son of Alphaeus were both disciples, as were Simon (also called Peter) and Simon the Zealot, and Judas and Judas Iscariot (Judas from Iscaria) - the one who betrayed Jesus. In the case of Mary Magdalene, there are several Marys in the stories of Jesus.

There is Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary of Bethany (who was the sister of Martha and brother of Lazarus), and Mary Magdalene. 'Magdalene' simply means 'from Magdala' a village near Jerusalem, and hence she could be called 'Mary of Magdala' which means the same thing. Therefore 'Magdalene' is not a 'surname' but a description of Mary to differentiate her from the others in the stories of Jesus.

There are about 6 different 'Mary's' mentioned in the Gospels -it was a popular name - so nicknames were used to differentiate them.

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9y ago

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