Margaret is a feminine given name, meaning "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Old Iranian.[1] 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 the Virgin is one of many saints named Margaret | |
| Pronunciation | English: /ˈmɑːrɡərət/ |
|---|---|
| Gender | Female |
| Name day | 23 May or 25 January |
| Origin | |
| Language(s) | Latin, Greek and Iranian |
| Meaning | Pearl |
| Other names | |
| Related names | Maggie, Máiréad, Madge, Marguerite, Margarita, Margareta, Margaretta, Margarida, Margarete, Marge, Margherita, Margo, Margot, Margie, Daisy, Margit, Meg, Megan, Mette, Maisie, Małgorzata, Rita, Gretchen, Gretel, Grethe, Greta, Peggy |
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.[2][3]
Etymology
editMargaret is derived via French (Marguerite) and Latin (Margarita) from Ancient Greek: μαργαρίτης (margarítēs), via Persian murwārīd, meaning "pearl".[4][5][6] Margarita (given name) 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".[1]
Name variants
editFull name
edit- Mairead (Scottish)
- Maighread (Scottish)
- Máiréad/Mairéad (Irish)[7]
- Máighréad/Maighréad (Irish)[8]
- Máirghréad/Mairghréad (Irish)[9]
- Margaretha (Dutch), (German), (Swedish)
- Margriet (Dutch)
- Margrith (German)
- Marjorie (English)
Diminutives
editFirst half
editSecond half
editNobility
editAustria
edit- Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369)
Belgium and the Netherlands
edit- Margaret, Marchioness of Namur (1194–1270), present-day Belgium
- Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480–1530), Princess of Asturias and Duchess of Savoy by her two marriages
- Margaret of Parma (1522–1586), illegitimate daughter of Charles V and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst
- Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
Denmark
edit- Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412)
- Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940)
England and Scotland
edit- Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923–2013), one of the UK's largest private landowners
- Margaret, Countess of Devon (disambiguation)
- Margaret, Countess of Mar (died 1391), Scotland
- Margaret, queen-dowager of Scotland (1489–1541), Queen of Scots by marriage to James IV of Scotland and regent for their son, James V of Scotland
- Margaret of Anjou (1430–1482), wife of King Henry VI of England
- Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (1443–1509), mother of Henry VII of England and paternal grandmother of King Henry VIII of England
- Margaret Douglas (1515–1578), daughter of Margaret Tudor
- Margaret Pole, born Princess Margaret of York and Clarence (1473–1541), Countess of Salisbury
- Margaret Tudor (1489–1541), elder sister of Henry VIII of England and great-grandmother of James VI of Scotland / James I of England
- Princess Margaret of Connaught (1882–1920), elder daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
- Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002), only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
- Saint Margaret of Scotland, (c. 1045–1093), Queen of Scots
France
edit- Margaret, Countess of Blois (died 1230)
- Margaret, Countess of Brienne (born 1365), France
- Margaret, Countess of Soissons (died 1350), France
- Margaret, Countess of Vertus (1406–1466), France
- Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant (1254–1271)
- Margaret of Provence (1221–1285)
- Margaret of Valois (1553–1615)
- Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
- Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549)
Greece
edit- Margaret, Lady of Lisarea (fl. 1276), Greece
Hungary
edit- Margaret of Hungary (1175–1223), wife of Isaac II Angelos Byzantine Emperor
Italy
edit- Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369), present-day Italy
Norway
edit- Margaret of Scotland (Maid of Norway) (1282–1290)
Romania
edit- Margareta of Romania (born 1949)
Religion
edit- Margaret (the Lame) of Magdeburg (c. 1210–1250), an anchoress of the St Albans Church in Magdeburg, present-day Germany
- Margaret Brennan (1831–1887), Canadian nun
- Margaret B. Denning (1856–1935), American missionary and temperance worker
- Margaret Sampson (1906–1988), English nun
Canonised
edit- Margaret Clitherow (1556–1586)
- Margaret the Barefooted (1325–1395)
- Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647–1690)
- Saint Margaret of Castello (1287–1320)
- Saint Margaret of Cortona (1247–1297)
- Saint Margaret of England (died 1192)
- Saint Margaret of Hungary (1242–1270)
- Saint Margaret of Scotland (1045–1093)
- Saint Margaret the Virgin (c. 209–304 AD), the oldest and most prominent St. Margaret; also known as Margaret of Antioch
Beatified
edit- Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1473–1541)
- Margaret Ward (1550–1588)
Arts and music
edit- Maggie Smith (born 1934), British actress
- Maisie Williams (born 1997), English actress.
- Margaret Uyauperq Aniksak (1907–1993), Inuit sculptor
- Margaret Ashmore Sudduth (1859–1957), American educator, editor, temperance advocate
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian novelist and poet
- Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
- Margaret Barnard (1898–1992), British painter and linocut maker
- Margaret Barr (choreographer) (1904–1991), Australian dance-drama choreographer
- Margaret Berger (born 1985), Norwegian singer-songwriter
- Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971), American photojournalist
- Margaret Brouwer (born 1940), American composer and composition teacher
- Margaret Busby, Ghanaian British publisher and writer
- Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English writer, poet, and playwright.
- Margaret Cho (born 1968), American comedian and actress
- Margaret Clark (born 1943), Australian author
- Margaret Clarkson, English artist
- Margaret Cleaves (1848–1917), American physician, writer
- Margaret Colin, American actress
- Margaret Wootten Collier (1869–1947), American author
- Margaret Deland (1857–1945), American author
- Margaret Drabble, English author
- Margaret E. Winslow (1836–1936), American activist, editor, author
- Margaret Eleanor Parker (1827–1896), American social activist, social reformer, travel writer
- Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838–1912), American author, poet, editor
- Margaret Forster, British author
- Margaret Frame (1903–1985), Canadian painter
- Margaret Frances Sullivan (1847–1903), Irish-American writer, journalist, editor
- Margaret Fuller (1810–1850), American critic
- Margaret Gale (born 1930), British operatic soprano
- Margaret Harker (1920–2013), British photographer and historian of photography
- Margaret Hillis, American conductor
- Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858–1925), American poet
- Margaret Lane (1907–1994), British journalist, biographer and novelist
- Margaret Larkin (1899–1967), American writer
- Margaret Laurence (1926–1987), Canadian novelist
- Margaret Leighton (1922–1976), English actress
- Margaret Lockwood (1916–1990), British actress
- Margaret Manton Merrill, British-American journalist, writer, translator, elocutionist
- Margaret Mazzantini (born 1961), Italian-Irish author
- Margaret McDonald Bottome (1827–1906), American reformer, organizational founder, author
- Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949), American author
- Margaret Ogden (born 1952), American fantasy author best known by the pen name Robin Hobb
- Margaret Oliphant (1828–1897), Scottish author
- Margaret Bloodgood Peeke (1838–1908), American traveler, lecturer, author
- Margaret Peterson Haddix (born 1964), American writer
- Margaret Randall (born 1936), American writer
- Margaret Roper (1505–1544), English writer, translator
- Margaret Rutherford (1892–1972), British actress of the stage and screen
- Margaret Scobie (born 1948), Australian indigenous Aboriginal painter
- Margaret Severin-Hansen, American ballerina
- Margaret (singer) (born 1991), Polish singer and songwriter
- Margaret Tracey (born 1967), American ballet dancer
- Margaret Travolta, American actress
- Margaret Walker (1915–1998), American author
- Margaret Whiting (1924–2011), American popular music and country music singer
- Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952), American author
- Margaret Wynne Lawless (1847–1926), American poet, author, educator, philanthropist
- Margaret Keane (1927–2022), American painter
- Meg Stuart (born 1965), American choreographer, dancer, performing artist
Education, science, and technology
edit- Margaret, Lady Moir (1864–1942), founding member of the Women's Engineering Society, Scotland
- Margaret Haley (1861–1939), American educator, promoted teacher's unions
- Margaret Becklake (1922–2018), Canadian academic and epidemiologist
- Margaret Burbidge (1919–2020), British astronomer
- Margaret Byers (1832–1912), Irish educator, activist, social reformer, missionary, writer
- Margaret Mordecai Jones Cruikshank (1878–1955), American educator and college president
- Margaret Elisabeth Felix (born 1937), Indian educator
- Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939), American psychologist
- Margaret Frame, Scottish scientist, professor of molecular cell biology
- Margaret Gurney (1908–2002), American mathematician, statistician, and computer programmer
- Margaret Hamilton, American computer scientist
- Margaret Keenan Harrais (1872–1964), American educator; first woman superintendent of schools in Fairbanks, Alaska
- Margaret Holden (died 1998), British botanist, biochemist
- Margaret Howe Lovatt, naturalist
- Margaret Hutchinson, English educator, naturalist and author
- Margaret Lin Xavier (1898–1932), Thai physician
- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist
- Margaret Helen Read (1889–1991), British social anthropologist and academic
- Margaret C. Roberts (1846–1926), American obstetrician
- Margaret Warner Morley (1858–1923), American biologist, wrote children's books on biology
- Margaret Wiecek, Polish-American operations researcher
Politics
edit- Margaret A. Davidson (1950–2017), American lawyer and coastal science pioneer
- Margaret (Ann) Coffey (born 1946), former British Member of Parliament for Stockport
- Margaret Beckett (born 1943), British Member of Parliament for Derby South
- Margaret Chase Smith (1897–1995), was the first woman to serve in both houses of the United States Congress, and the first woman to represent Maine in either.
- Margaret Curran (born 1958), former British Member of Parliament for Glasgow East
- Margaret Davidson (1871–1964), British wife of colonial governor of New South Wales, Australia
- Margaret Davidson (suffragist) (1879–1978), Scottish suffragist, teacher and WW1 nurse
- Margaret Ewing (1945–2006), Scottish politician
- Margrith von Felten (born 1944), Swiss politician
- Margaret Ferrier (born 1960), British Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
- Margaret French McLean, First Lady of North Carolina
- Margaret Greenwood (born 1959), British Member of Parliament for Wirral West
- Margarett (Maggie) Hassan (born 1958), United States Senator for New Hampshire
- Margaret Hodge (born 1944), British Member of Parliament for Barking
- Margaret Hoover (born 1977), American political consultant and commentator, great-granddaughter of the former president
- Margaret Gardner Hoey (1875–1942), American political hostess and First Lady of North Carolina
- Margaret (Maggie) Jones, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, British Labour Peer and trade union official
- Margaret Mitchell (Canadian politician) (1925–2017), New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Vancouver East
- Margaret Mitchell (Scottish politician) (born 1952), Scottish Conservative politician
- Margaret Moran (born 1955), former Labour MP for Luton South who was convicted of the largest amount of fraud in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
- Margaret Ritchie (born 1958), politician who served in the Northern Ireland Assembly and both British Houses of Parliament
- Margaret Rose Sanford (1918–2006), First Lady of North Carolina
- Margaret Selina Martei, Ghanaian Member of Parliament for Asamankese (1965–1966)
- Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990
- Margeret (Maggie) Throup (born 1967), British Member of Parliament for Erewash
Sports
edit- Margaret Akidor (born 2000 or 2002), Kenyan runner
- Margaret Boyd (1913–1993), English lacrosse player and schoolteacher
- Margaret Court (born 1942), Australian tennis player
- Margaret Groos (born 1959), American long-distance runner
- Margaret Hoelzer (born 1983), American swimmer
- Margaret Jeffery (1920–2004), British swimmer and Olympian
- Margaret Martin (born 1979), American professional bodybuilder
- Margaret Maughan (1928–2020), British Paralympic archer
- Margaret McIver (1933–2020), Australian equestrian
- Margaret Purce (born 1995) American soccer player
Other
edit- Margaret Barclay, died 1618 as a result of witch trials held in Irvine, Ayrshire
- Margaret Catherine Blaikie (1823–1915), Scottish temperance reformer
- Margaret Brent (c. 1601–1671), English immigrant colonial landowner
- Margaret Casely-Hayford (born 1959), British lawyer
- Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751–1800), fought in the U.S. Revolutionary War and was given a pension by Congress
- Margaret Douie Dougal (1858–1938), British chemical publication indexer
- Margaret Dye Ellis (1845–1925), American social reformer
- Margaret E. Kuhn (1905–1995), founder of the Gray Panthers organisation
- Margaret Elizabeth Douglas (1934–2008), English television producer and executive
- Margaret Feeny (1917–2012), founder and first director of London's Africa Centre
- Margaret Hampshire (1918–2004), British educator and civil servant
- Margaret Hanmer (c. 1362 – c. 1420), the wife of Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr
- Margaret Haughery (1813–1882), philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans"
- Margaret Kempe Howell (1806–1867), American planter and slave owner
- Margaret Irvine (1948–2023), British crossword compiler
- Margaret Jeffrey (1896–1977), Australian police officer
- Margaret Bischell McFadden, American philanthropist and social worker
- Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828–1918), American philanthropist who established the Russell Sage Foundation
- Margaret Prior (1773–1842), American humanitarian, missionary, moral reform worker, writer
- Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), founder of the birth control movement in the United States
- Margaret Swain (1909–2002), English embroidery and textile historian
Fictional characters
edit- Margaret, a character who is Jake the Dog’s mother in the TV series Adventure Time
- Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
- Margaret, a character in the Cartoon Network animated series Regular Show
- Margaret "Peggy" Bundy, a character played by Katey Sagal in the 1987–97 Fox sitcom Married... with Children
- Margaret "Peggy" Carter, a character featured in several storylines published by Marvel Comics
- Margaret Fish, a chiropodist and a character in Bob and Margaret
- Margaret Hale, heroine in Elizabeth Gaskell's 1855 novel North and South
- Margaret Hooper, secretary to White House Chiefs of Staff Leo McGarry and CJ Cregg played by NiCole Robinson in the TV series The West Wing
- Margaret "Maggie" Horton, a character on the soap opera Days of Our Lives
- Margaret Houlihan, character in both the movie and television show M*A*S*H
- Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge, in the Kit Kittredge series of American Girl books and related toys
- Margaret "Meg" March, character in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- Margaret "Maggie" Mathison, character in Homeland
- Margaret Moonlight, a boss in the Suda 51 game No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
- Margaret "Peggy" Olson, a central character in the AMC series Mad Men
- Mistress Margaret Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
- Margaret Evelyn "Maggie" Simpson in the TV show The Simpsons
- Margaret Sawyer, fictional character in DC Comics and a supporting character in Superman and Batman
- Margaret SquarePants, SpongeBob's mother and Harold's wife in SpongeBob SquarePants
- Margaret White, a character Stephen King's Carrie
- Margaret "Peggy" Woolley, a character in the BBC radio serial The Archers
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Ilya Gershevitch, “Margarites, the Pearl,” Études irano-aryennes offertes à Gilbert Lazard, Studia Iranica 7, Paris, 1989, pp. 113-36.
- ^ Cecil Adams (8 January 1993). "Why is Peggy the nickname for Margaret?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ Evans, Cleveland Kent (24 September 2023). "Cleveland Evans: Molly peaked with millennials". omaha.com. Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 700.
- ^ George F. Kunz and Charles H. Stevenson, The Book of the Pearl: The History, Art, Science and Industry of the Queen of Gems (London and New York: MacMillan & Co., 1908), p. 305.
- ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger. "Persian Loanwords and Names in Greek". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ "MÁIRÉAD, MAIRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "MAIGHRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
- ^ "MÁIRGHRÉAD, MAIRGHRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames". www.libraryireland.com. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
External links
edit
Look up margaret in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- "Margaret". Edgar’s Name Pages. 2001. Archived from the original on 21 October 2009.