Margaret
Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Old Iranian. It has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became less popular between the 16th and 18th century, but became more common again after this period, becoming the second-most popular female name in the United States in 1903. Since this time, it has become less common, but was still the ninth-most common name for women of all ages in the United States as of the 1990 census.
Margaret has many diminutive forms in many languages, including Daisy, Greta, Gretchen, Maggie, Madge, Maisie, Marge, Margie, Margo, Margot, Marnie, Meg, Megan, Molly, Peggy, and Rita.
Etymology
Margaret is derived via French and Latin from , via Persian murwārīd, meaning "pearl". Margarita traces the etymology further as مروارید, morvārīd in modern Persian, derived from Sogdian marγārt, both meaning 'pearl'. It is ultimately traces its roots to Old Iranian -mrgāhrīta*, "derived from a shell".Name variants
Full name
- Mairead
- Maighread
- Máiréad/Mairéad
- Máighréad/Maighréad
- Máirghréad/Mairghréad
- Margaretha,,,
- Małgorzata
- Margaryta
- Margriet
- Margrit
- Margit
- Margrith
- Marjorie
- Morvarid مروارید
Diminutives
- Mae
- Maggie
- Maisie
- Meta
First half
- Margot
- Megan
Second half
- Greta,,,,,,
- Gretchen,,
- Rita,,,,
- Reet
- Greet
- Griet
Nobility
Austria
- Margaret, Countess of Tyrol
Belgium and the Netherlands
- Margaret, Marchioness of Namur
- Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy, Princess of Asturias and Duchess of Savoy by her two marriages
- Margaret of Parma, illegitimate daughter of Charles V and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
- Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
- Margaret de La Marck-Arenberg, ruling countess of Arenberg
Denmark
- Margaret I of Denmark, founder of the Kalmar Union
- Margrethe II of Denmark
- Margaret Vinstarr, Danish courtier in Scotland to Anne of Denmark
England, Scotland, Wales, and Great Britain
- Margaret Alexander, Countess Alexander of Tunis, British aristocrat and activist
- Margaret Audley, 2nd Baroness Audley, English noblewoman
- Margaret Audley, Duchess of Norfolk, English noblewoman
- Margaret Beauchamp, Countess of Shrewsbury, English noblewoman
- Margaret Beaufort, multiple people
- Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, British duchess
- Margaret de Bohun, Countess of Devon, English noblewoman and bibliophile
- Margaret Bourchier, Countess of Bath, English noblewoman
- Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim, Anglo-Welsh noblewoman
- Margaret Brisbane, 5th Lady Napier, Scottish peer
- Margaret Brooke, white Ratuh Consort of Sarawak
- Margaret Bryan, English noble
- Margaret Butler, Countess of Ormond, Irish countess
- Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, British peeress
- Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, socialite
- Margaret Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey, English political hostess and philanthropist
- Margaret de Clare, English noblewoman
- Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere, Anglo-Norman noblewoman and the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere
- Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland, English noblewoman
- Margaret Clive, British society figure
- Margaret Coke, Countess of Leicester, British peer
- Margaret, Countess of Mar, Scottish peeress who became Countess of Mar in her own right
- Margaret de Crussol d'Uzès, English oil heiress
- Margaret of Anjou, wife of King Henry VI of England
- Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Tudor
- Margaret Douglas, Countess of Arran, Scottish aristocrat
- Margaret Douglas, Countess of Bothwell, Scottish aristocrat and courtier
- Margaret Douglas, Fair Maid of Galloway, Scottish noble
- Margaret Drummond, Scottish noblewoman and mistress of King James IV of Scotland
- Margaret Drummond, Queen of Scotland, second queen of David II of Scotland
- Margaret Mercer Elphinstone, Scottish society hostess
- Margaret Erskine, mistress of Scottish King
- Margaret Feilding, Duchess of Hamilton, 17th century Scottish noblewoman
- Margaret Fiennes, 11th Baroness Dacre, English noblewoman
- Lady Margaret Fortescue, one of the UK's largest private landowners
- Margaret Fownes-Luttrell, British heiress
- Margaret Godolphin, British courtier
- Margaret Goschen, Viscountess Goschen, British aristocrat
- Margaret Graham, Countess of Menteith, Scottish noblewoman
- Margaret Grey, Cambro-Norman noblewoman
- Margaret Hamilton, Lady Belhaven and Stenton, English Royalist conspirator
- Margaret Hanmer, the wife of Owain Glyndŵr
- Lady Margaret Hay, British courtier
- Margaret Holland, Duchess of Clarence, English noblewoman
- Margaret Holles, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, English noblewoman
- Margaret Home, Countess of Moray, Scottish aristocrat and compiler of recipe books
- Margaret Howard, 2nd Baroness Strathcona and Mount Royal, British peer and medical doctor
- Margaret Howard, Countess of Nottingham, British noble
- Margaret Howard, Countess of Suffolk, American heiress
- Margaret Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe, British duchess
- Margaret Jones, Countess of Ranelagh, English courtier
- Margaret Kennedy, Countess of Cassilis, Scottish aristocrat
- Margaret Kennix, Dutch woman who practiced medicine in London
- Margaret Lee, English courtier and lady-in-waiting
- Margaret Leslie, 8th Countess of Rothes, Scottish noble
- Margaret Longespée, 4th Countess of Salisbury, English noblewoman
- Margaret de Monthermer, 3rd Baroness Monthermer, English heiress
- Margaret Nairne, 2nd Lady Nairne, Scottish noblewoman
- Margaret O'Carroll, 15th century Irish noblewoman
- Margaret Ogilvy, Lady Ogilvy, 18th-century Scottish Jacobite
- Margaret Percy, 15th century English noblewoman
- Margaret Peverell, Countess of Derby, English noblewoman
- Margaret Pole, born Princess Margaret of York and Clarence, Countess of Salisbury
- Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, English noblewoman
- Margaret Radclyffe Livingstone Eyre, Scottish aristocrat
- Margaret Rhodes, British aristocrat and a first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
- Margaret Rolle, 15th Baroness Clinton, British heiress
- Margaret Russell, Baroness Ampthill, British noblewoman
- Margaret Spencer, British noble
- Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby, English noblewoman
- Margaret Haig Thomas, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda, Welsh peeress and suffragette
- Margaret Tudor, elder sister of Henry VIII of England, Queen of Scots by marriage to James IV of Scotland and regent for their son, James V of Scotland
- Margaret de Vere, English noblewoman
- Margaret Wake, 3rd Baroness Wake of Liddell, English noblewoman
- Margaret Wemyss, 3rd Countess of Wemyss, Scottish peer
- Margaret Willoughby, English heiress
- Margaret Wotton, Marchioness of Dorset, English noblewoman
- Princess Margaret of Connaught, elder daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
- Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
- Saint Margaret of Scotland, Queen of Scots
France
- Margaret, Countess of Blois
- Margaret, Countess of Brienne
- Margaret of France, Queen of England, Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I
- Margaret, Countess of Soissons
- Margaret, Countess of Vertus
- Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant
- Margaret of Provence, Queen of France
- Margaret of Valois, Queen of France
- Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry, Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy
- Margaret, Countess of Vertus, ruling Countess of Vertus and Etampes
- Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
- Margaret de Fiennes, Baroness Mortimer of Wigmore, French noblewoman
- Marguerite de Navarre
Greece
- Margaret, Lady of Lisarea
Hungary
- Margaret of Hungary, wife of Isaac II Angelos Byzantine Emperor
- Saint Margit, daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary
- Margit of Luxembourg, Queen of Hungary
- Margaret of Durazzo, Queen of Naples and Hungary and Princess of Achaea
Italy
- Margaret, Countess of Tyrol, present-day Italy
Norway
- Margaret of Sweden, Queen of Norway
- Margaret of Scotland
Portugal
- Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal, the last Habsburg Vicereine of Portugal
Romania
- Margareta of Romania
Religion
- Margaret of Magdeburg, an anchoress of the St Albans Church in Magdeburg, present-day Germany
- Margaret Arthur, 17th-century Irish abbess
- Margaret Aylward, Irish Roman Catholic nun
- Margaret Bane, Scottish midwife
- Margaret E. Barber, British missionary in China
- Margaret Beaton, Scottish courtier
- Margaret Bethune, Scottish midwife
- Margaret Bevan, Welsh-born child evangelist and singer
- Margaret Brennan, Canadian nun
- Margaret E. Burton, American missionary
- Margaret Catchpole, English servant girl, chronicler and deportee to Australia
- Margaret Chalmers, lifelong friend of Robert Burns
- Margaret Clement, English prioress
- Margaret Anna Cusack, Irish nun and religious sister
- Margaret B. Denning, American missionary and temperance worker
- Margaret Dixson, early Australian follower of the Bahá'í Faith in Melbourne, Victoria
- Margaret Durrell, British memoirist
- Margaret Farley, American Sister of Mercy and theologian
- Margaret Farren, British actress
- Margaret Fell, founder of the Religious Society of Friends
- Margaret Fernseed, English prostitute, brothel-keeper, and murderer
- Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl, Scottish courtier and landowner
- Margaret Fletcher, British founder Catholic Women’s League
- Margaret Forrest, wife of John Forrest
- Margaret Kemble Gage, wife of General Thomas Gage
- Margaret Hallahan, English Catholic religious sister
- Margaret Hartsyde, Scottish servant and landowner, accused of a jewel theft
- Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, Irish-American nun, activist and educator
- Margaret Henley, friend of J. M. Barrie
- Margaret Herschel, British botanical artist and hostess
- Margaret Yandes Holliday, American Presbyterian missionary
- Margaret Idahosa, Nigerian preacher and the first African female Archbishop
- Margaret Jeans, British schoolteacher and businesswoman in Oman
- Margaret Stephen Kennedy, Scottish missionary
- Margaret Knox, Scottish noblewoman and wife of John Knox
- Margaret Lambrun, Scottish woman who tried to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I
- Margaret Livingstone, Countess of Orkney, Scottish courtier and landowner
- Margaret MacDonald, Scottish visionary
- Margaret Macgregor, Scottish Catholic missionary
- Margaret MacRory, Australian religious sister
- Margaret Magennis, Viscountess Iveagh, Irish viscountess
- Margaret Maher, Irish-American long-term domestic worker in the household of Emily Dickinson
- Margaret Mannah-Macarthy, Sierra Leonean midwife
- Margaret McEntee, American Catholic nun and educator
- Margaret Isabelle McHenry, American-Canadian heiress
- Margaret McKellar, Canadian medical missionary
- Margaret McKenna, American religious sister and anti-war activist
- Margaret Mostyn, English Carmelite
- Margaret Myles, Scottish midwife
- Margaret Paleologa, marquise of Montserrat
- Margaret Purves, British George Cross recipient
- Margaret Radclyffe, English Elizabethan courtier
- Margaret Reid, New Zealand religious sister
- Margaret Sampson, English nun
- Margaret Peoples Shirer, American Pentecostal Christian missionaries to West Africa
- Margaret Sinclair, Scottish Roman Catholic nun
- Margaret Charles Smith, African-American midwife
- Margaret Stewart, Lady Gordon, illegitimate daughter of James IV in Scotland
- Margaret Stewart, Mistress of Ochiltree, courtier in the household of Anne of Denmark in Scotland
- Margaret Beveridge Stevenson, first New Zealand member of the Baháʼí Faith
- Margaret Stott Bhore, British missionary
- Margaret Young Taylor, American Church of Latter-Day Saints member and presidential plural wife
- Margaret Tebbit, English nurse and wife of Norman Tebbit
- Margaret Throckmorton, English prioress
- Margaret Towner, American religious leader
- Margaret Traxler, American religious sister and feminist
- Margaret Newton Van Cott, first female Methodist Episcopal evangelist in America
- Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard, American heiress
- Margaret Vertue, South African Anglican bishop
- Margaret Wake Tryon, English heiress and wife of William Tryon
- Margaret Waterchief, Blackfoot elder and Anglican priest
- Margaret Wenig, American rabbi