Margaret
Comes through Latin Margarita from Greek margarites, meaning pearl, a word thought to have reached Greek from an Iranian or Indic source. Borne by an early Christian martyr.
Margaret in 2025
Margaret was given to 2,436 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 273rd most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 1,361 babies born.
The history of Margaret
Margaret reached its highest point in 1921, when 28,521 babies were given the name, ranking 9th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 5th, in 1906.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 1,268,519 babies have been named Margaret. Half of them were born before 1934, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Margaret by decade
| Decade | Babies named Margaret | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 21,894 | 10 |
| 1890s | 38,060 | 7 |
| 1900s | 58,137 | 5 |
| 1910s | 189,707 | 6 |
| 1920s | 245,709 | 9 |
| 1930s | 158,077 | 14 |
| 1940s | 173,518 | 26 |
| 1950s | 149,898 | 37 |
| 1960s | 82,130 | 74 |
| 1970s | 32,067 | 142 |
| 1980s | 30,512 | 186 |
| 1990s | 31,360 | 207 |
| 2000s | 23,931 | 245 |
| 2010s | 20,042 | 305 |
| 2020s | 13,477 | 273 |
Where Margaret is heading
Margaret has risen 15% over the past decade, from 2,110 babies in 2015 to 2,436 in 2025.
Names like Margaret
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Margaret.