Margaret Abernethy, 10th Lady Saltoun

Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian.

Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became less popular between the 16th century 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 different languages, including Maggie, Madge, Daisy, Margarete, Marge, Margo, Margie, Marjorie, Meg, Megan, Rita, Greta, Gretchen, and Peggy.

Name variants

Full name

* (Irish)
* (Irish)
* (Dutch), (German), (Swedish)
* (English)

Diminutives

* (English)
* (English)

First half

* (French)
* (Welsh)

Second half

* (English), (German), (Italian), (Lithuanian), (Polish), (Swedish),
* (English), (German),
* (English), (Estonian), ( Hungarian), (Estonian)

Nobility

Austria

* Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369)

Belgium and the Netherlands

* 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

* Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412)
* Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940)

England and Scotland

* Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923–2013), one of the UK's largest private landowners
* 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 of Anjou (1430–1482), wife of King Henry VI of England
* 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 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, (), Queen of Scots

France

* Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant (1254–1271)
* Margaret of Provence (1221–1285)
* Margaret of Valois (1553–1615)
* Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549)

Hungary

* Margaret of Hungary (1175–1223), wife of Isaac II Angelos Byzantine Emperor

Norway

* Margaret of Scotland (Maid of Norway) (1282–1290)

Romania

* Margareta of Romania (born 1949)

Religion

* Margaret Brennan (1831–1887), Canadian nun
* Margaret Sampson (1906–1988), English nun

Canonized

* 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 – the oldest and most prominent St. Margaret; also known as Margaret of Antioch ()

Beatified

* Margaret Pole (1473–1541)
* Margaret Ward (1550–1588)

Artists and authors

* Maggie Smith (born 1934), British actress
* Maisie Williams (born 1997), English actress.
* 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 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, American physician, writer
* Margaret Deland, 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, 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), US 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 (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

Educators and scientists

* 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 (biologist), Margaret Frame, Scottish scientist, professor of molecular cell biology
* Margaret Gurney (1908–2002), American mathematician, statistician, and computer programmer
* Margaret Hamilton (software engineer), Margaret Hamilton, American computer scientist
* Margaret Howe Lovatt, naturalist
* Margaret Hutchinson, English educator, naturalist and author
* Margaret Lin Xavier (1898–1932), Thai physician
* Margaret Mead, American anthropologist
* Margaret Read (anthropologist), Margaret Helen Read (1889–1991), British social anthropologist and academic
* Margaret Warner Morley (1858–1923), American biologist, wrote children's books on biology
* Margaret Wiecek, Polish-American operations researcher

Politics

* Margaret A. Davidson (1950–2017), American lawyer and coastal science pioneer
* Ann Coffey, Margaret (Ann) Coffey (born 1946), former British Member of Parliament for Stockport
* Margaret Beckett (born 1943), British Member of Parliament for Derby South
* 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
* Margaret Ferrier (born 1960), British Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
* Margaret Greenwood (born 1959), British Member of Parliament for Wirral West
* Maggie Hassan, 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
* Maggie Jones, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, 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, Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick, 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
* Maggie Throup, Margeret (Maggie) Throup (born 1967), British Member of Parliament for Erewash

Sports

* 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 (bodybuilder), Margaret Martin (born 1979), American professional bodybuilder
* Margaret Maughan (1928–2020), British Paralympic archer
* Margaret McIver (1933–2020), Australian equestrian

Other

* Margaret Barclay (accused witch), 1618 as a result of witch trials held in Irvine, Ayrshire
* Margaret Catherine Blaikie (1823-1915), Scottish temperance reformer
* Margaret Brent (), 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 Haughery (1813–1882), philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans"
* Margaret Jeffrey (police officer), 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

* Maggie Simpson, Margaret Evelyn "Maggie" Simpson, in the TV show ''The Simpsons''
* 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 Houlihan, character in both the movie and television show ''M*A*S*H''
* Margaret in ''Much Ado About Nothing'', by Shakespeare
* Margaret "Meg" March, character in ''Little Women'' by Louisa May Alcott
* Kit Kittredge, Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge, in the ''Kit Kittredge'' series of American Girl books and related toys
* Margaret Moonlight, a boss in the Suda 51 game No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
* Peggy Bundy, Margaret "Peggy" Bundy, a character played by Katey Sagal in the 1987–97 Fox sitcom ''Married... with Children''
* Peggy Carter, Margaret "Peggy" Carter, a character featured in several storylines published by Marvel Comics
* Margaret White (Stephen King), Margaret White, in the 1974 novel ''Carrie'' by Stephen King
* Margaret, a character in the Cartoon Network animated series ''Regular Show''
* Mistress Margaret Page in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'', by Shakespeare
* Margaret SquarePants, SpongeBob's mother and Harold's wife in SpongeBob SquarePants
* Maggie Horton, Margaret "Maggie" Horton, a character on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives''

See also

* Margaret (disambiguation)

References

External links

*

{{Use dmy dates, date=January 2021

English feminine given names
Given names of Greek language origin
Given names