Margaret

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled מרגרט in IL Israel, FR France.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 15 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Margaret is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name466K records spelled Margaret14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, France, Argentina, Colombia

  Languages: Spanish, French, Italian

  Also written Márgaret, Màrgaret, Märgaret, Märgärët, Märgärét

• Greek given name19K records spelled Margaret3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Spain

  Also written Μάργκαρετ, Μαργκαρετ

• Thai given name9.1K records spelled Margaret12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Thailand, United Kingdom, Laos

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written มาร์กาเร็ต, มากาเร็ต, Magaret, มาร์กาเรต, Margarett

79 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Margaret is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• An extremely common medieval given name, derived via Old French Marguerite and Latin Margarita from Greek Margarités, from margaron ‘pearl’, a word ultimately of Hebrew origin. The name was always understood to mean ‘pearl’ throughout the Middle Ages. The first St Margaret was martyred at Antioch in Pisidia during the persecution instigated by the Emperor

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from Ancient Greek.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In French, Du grec margarites, « perle ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Greek 'pearl'

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Latin; a pearl

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Margaret Theresa of Spainb. 1651ESHoly Roman empress (1651-1673)
• Margaret Mitchellb. 1900USAmerican author and journalist (1900–1949)
• Margaret Meadb. 1901USAmerican anthropologist (1901-1978)
• Peggy Ashcroftb. 1907GBnot in their usual nameBritish actress (1907-1991)
• Margot Fonteynb. 1919GBnot in their usual nameBritish ballerina
• Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdonb. 1930GBBritish princess (1930–2002)
• Margaret Atwoodb. 1939CACanadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, pépiniériste and inventor (born 1939)
• Margaret Smith Courtb. 1942AUAustralian tennis player
• Sally Fieldb. 1946USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress
• Margaret Qualleyb. 1994USAmerican actress (born 1994)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,416 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Margaret?

We estimate roughly 813 thousand people bear Margaret (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Margaret have the most bearers?

Margaret is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled margaret.

Where is Margaret most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Margaret is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 51 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Margaret compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Margaret is the 35th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Margaret a male or female name?

Margaret is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Margaret mean?

Recorded meaning: Greek ‘pearl’; popularized by St Margaret, queen of Scots; widely introduced by Anglo-Normans.