Introduction The melanoma-associated antigen D4 (MAGED2) is one of the melanoma-associated antigen family members. It is commonly overexpressed in a variety of malignancies. However, the mechanism and function of MAGED2 in glioma remain unknown. Methods The TCGA and Oncomine databases were used to determine the expression level of MAGED2 and its relationship to glioma. MAGED2 protein expression in 98 tumor tissues from glioma patients was measured using RT-qPCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry, and the associations between MAGED4 expression and clinicopathological factors were evaluated. qRT-PCR and Western blots were used to assess the levels of MAGED2 and CDKN1A expression in glioma U251-MG cells following transfection of MAGED2 CRISPR. CCK-8, colony formation, and EdU assays were used to assess the effect of MAGED2 on U251-MG cell proliferation, and flowcytometry was used to track changes in the cell cycle and cell apoptosis following MAGED2 CRISPR transfection. Results In the current investigation, MAGED2 was shown to be substantially expressed in human glioma tissues, and high MAGED2 expression predicted poor recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for glioma patients. The presence of high MAGED2 expression was related to WHO grade, Ki-67, IDH1/2, MGMT, and survival status. Furthermore, MAGED2 expression knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation and colony formation potential of U251-MG cells by preventing cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase and triggering apoptosis. Moreover, our findings indicated that the mRNA and protein expression levels of CDKN1A were considerably up-regulated in vitro following MAGED2 CRISPR transfection. MAGED2 downregulation inhibited the ability of cell proliferation in the U251-MG cells through restoring CDKN1A. Conclusions To conclude, the current study's findings imply that a high level of MAGED2 expression predicts a poor prognosis for glioma patients. MAGED2 can stimulate the proliferation of glioma U251-MG cells by targeting CDKN1A. MAGED2 may be a possible biomarker for glioma and an important prognostic factor for glioma patients.