Names
Magdaleena (Magdaleena)
Magdalene, after the former Magdalenium, or Magdalenium und Trinkerinnen Asyl, Magdalene and Asylum for Inebriate Women which, of course, were non-existent during Soviet times, so temporarily re-labeled (1950-1991) as Lasteaia. The Order of St Mary Magdalene, set up to run homes for reformed prostitutes, may have been founded by Rudolph of Worms in Germany, 1005. By the 20th C, it had become a hospital and, in 2001, was merged with others (see Diakonissa) into the Ida-Tallinna Keskhaigla, or East-Tallinn Central Hospital. Obviously, not all Magdalene churches were associated with fallen women, the 17th-C wood-frame Saint Magdalene church on Kihnu island (pop. 570) being one of the more obvious candidates. Street recently upgraded to part of a woman’s name group, see Marta (seemingly unaware of the religious connection).
Mähe (0)
Apparently from the name of a village which may have been named after mähk:mähe, meaning cambium, and related to terms referring to sap or sapwood, or sap-/sapwood-based produce. Cambium itself is edible and birch sap, fresh from the tree or otherwise, is a popular drink in Estonia, as well as used for medical intent. Cambium can also be added into rye- and malt-bread from which a low-alcohol kvass-type beer can be made. First recorded 1625, and noted on Swedish surveyor Johann Holmberg’s Tallinn map of 1689 as Meheperre, the latter part of the compound an earlier spelling of pere, family, household, farm, the former spelled indifferently as Mähha, Mähhe, Mehe and even Mogle. Also means diaper (US) or nappy (UK) which one suggests might not be a helpful translation in this particular instance. See Mähe asum.
