# Margaret (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/margaret/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “pearl”, “stone”, “pebble of the sea” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈmɑɹɡɹɪt/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Maggie, Megan, Peggy, Gretchen, Maisie, Margie, Madge, Meggie, Mags, Maisy, Meggy, Maggy |
| Variant spellings | Margery, Margareta, Margret |
| US babies named this | 1,268,519 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,745 / 1,264,774 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 2,551, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From the name of 3rd century Saint Margaret the Virgin, from Middle English Margaret, from Old French Margaret (French Marguerite), from Latin Margarita, from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarítēs, “pearl”), ultimately from an Indo-Iranian source. The same source, through folk etymology, has produced Old English meregrot (“pearl”, literally “stone or pebble of the sea”), related to Old Saxon merigrita, merigriota (“pearl”), Old High German merigrioz, equivalent to mer- + groat.

## What it means

Margaret is grouped under jewel, mountain and sea.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,699 | 186 |
| 2012 | 1,780 | 177 |
| 2013 | 1,774 | 180 |
| 2014 | 1,951 | 169 |
| 2015 | 2,110 | 155 |
| 2016 | 2,217 | 139 |
| 2017 | 2,255 | 132 |
| 2018 | 2,334 | 127 |
| 2019 | 2,214 | 127 |
| 2020 | 2,196 | 126 |
| 2021 | 2,245 | 125 |
| 2022 | 2,199 | 127 |
| 2023 | 2,085 | 132 |
| 2024 | 2,316 | 119 |
| 2025 | 2,436 | 112 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | 16 | 3,034 |
| 1986 | 9 | 4,705 |
| 1987 | 11 | 4,140 |
| 1988 | 14 | 3,634 |
| 1989 | 34 | 2,096 |
| 1990 | 17 | 3,549 |
| 1991 | 10 | 5,359 |
| 1992 | 8 | 6,471 |
| 1994 | 7 | 7,469 |
| 1995 | 11 | 5,381 |
| 1996 | 6 | 8,602 |
| 1998 | 7 | 8,131 |
| 2003 | 5 | 12,068 |
| 2004 | 7 | 9,582 |
| 2012 | 6 | 11,738 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 74 | 557 |
| 2012 | 79 | 536 |
| 2013 | 77 | 542 |
| 2014 | 83 | 508 |
| 2015 | 88 | 492 |
| 2016 | 105 | 423 |
| 2017 | 106 | 413 |
| 2018 | 113 | 392 |
| 2019 | 109 | 396 |
| 2020 | 124 | 357 |
| 2021 | 106 | 419 |
| 2022 | 96 | 442 |
| 2023 | 81 | 490 |
| 2024 | 80 | 493 |
| 2025 | 98 | 413 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: مَارْغَرِيت
- Armenian: Մարգարիտ
- Bulgarian: Маргари́та, Ма́ргарет
- Catalan: Margarida
- Chinese: 瑪格麗特 /玛格丽特
- Czech: Markéta
- Danish: Margrethe
- Dutch: Margreet, Margriet
- Esperanto: Margareto
- Estonian: Maret
- Finnish: Marketta
- French: Marguerite
- German: Margarete
- Greek: Μαργαρίτα
- Hebrew: מַרְגָּלִית
- Hindi: मरवारीद
- Hungarian: Margit
- Irish: Máiréad, Máighréad
- Italian: Margherita
- Japanese: マーガレット

## People named Margaret

- Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépin
- Margaret Mitchell, American author and journalist (1900–1949)
- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)
- Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, British princess (1930–2002)
- Margaret Hamilton, American mathematician and designer of embedded computer systems (1936–2026)
- Margaret Sanger, American birth control activist and nurse (1879–1966)
- Margaret Court, Australian tennis player
- Margaret Qualley, American actress and model (born 1994)
- Margaret Fuller, American writer and women's activist (1810–1850)
- Margaret Rutherford, British actress (1892–1972)
- Julia Margaret Cameron, British photographer (1815–1879)
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English aristocrat, prolific writer, and scientist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.