# 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 (Marguerite) and Latin (Margarita) from Ancient Greek: μαργαρίτης (margarítēs), via Persian murwārīd, meaning "pearl". 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".

## Name variants
### Full name

* Mairead (Scottish)
* Maighread (Scottish)
* Máiréad/Mairéad (Irish)
* Máighréad/Maighréad (Irish)
* Máirghréad/Mairghréad (Irish)
* Margaretha (Dutch), (German), (Indonesian), (Swedish)
* Małgorzata (Polish)
* Margriet (Dutch)
* Margrit
* Margrith (German)
* Marjorie (English)
* Morvarid مروارید (Persian)

### Diminutives

* Mae (English)
* Maggie (English)
* Maisie (Scottish)
* Meta (German)

### First half

* Margot (French)
* Megan (Welsh)

### Second half

* Greta (English), (German), (Italian), (Lithuanian), (Polish), (Swedish),
* Gretchen (English), (German),
* Rita (English), (Estonian), (Hungarian), (Italian), (Indonesian)
* Reet (Estonian)
* Greet (Dutch)
* Griet (Dutch)

## Nobility
### Austria

* Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369)

### Belgium and the Netherlands

* Margaret, Marchioness of Namur (1194–1270)
* 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, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands
* Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France

### Denmark

* Margaret I of Denmark (1353–1412), founder of the Kalmar Union
* Margrethe II of Denmark (born 1940)

### England, Scotland, Wales, and Great Britain

* Margaret Campbell, Duchess of Argyll (1912–1993), socialite
* Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere (1287–1333/4), Anglo-Norman noblewoman and the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere
* Margaret, Countess of Mar (died c. 1391), Scottish peeress who became Countess of Mar in her own right
* 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
* Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923–2013), one of the UK's largest private landowners
* Lady Margaret Hay (1918–1975), British courtier
* Margaret Kennix (died 1585), Dutch woman who practiced medicine in London
* Margaret Pole, born Princess Margaret of York and Clarence (1473–1541), Countess of Salisbury
* Margaret Haig Thomas, 2nd Viscountess Rhondda (1883 –1958), Welsh peeress and suffragette
* Margaret Tudor (1489–1541), 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
* 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

* Margaret, Countess of Blois (died 1230)
* Margaret, Countess of Brienne (born 1365)
* Margaret of France, Queen of England (1279–1318), Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I
* Margaret, Countess of Soissons (died 1350)
* Margaret, Countess of Vertus (1406–1466)
* Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant (1254–1271)
* Margaret of Provence (1221–1285), Queen of France
* Margaret of Valois (1553–1615), Queen of France
* Margaret of Valois, Duchess of Berry (1523–1574), Duchess of Savoy by marriage to Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy
* Margaret, Countess of Vertus (1406–1466), ruling Countess of Vertus and Etampes
* Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
* Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549)

### Greece

* Margaret, Lady of Lisarea (fl. 1276)

### Hungary

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

### Italy

* Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369), present-day Italy

### Norway

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

### Portugal

* Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal (1589–1655), the last Habsburg Vicereine of Portugal

### Romania

* Margareta of Romania (born 1949)

## Religion

* 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 Idahosa (born 1943), Nigerian preacher and the first African female Archbishop
* Margaret Sampson (1906–1988), English nun

### Canonised

* 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

* Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury (1473–1541)
* Margaret Ward (1550–1588)

## Arts and music

* Maggie Smith (1934–2024), British actress
* Maisie Williams (born 1997), English actress
* Margaret Uyauperq Aniksak (1907–1993), Inuk 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 (born 1941), English artist
* Margaret Cleaves (1848–1917), American physician, writer
* Margaret Colin (born 1958), American actress
* Margaret Wootten Collier (1869–1947), American author
* Margaret Deland (1857–1945), American author
* Margaret Isabel Dicksee (1858–1903), British painter
* Margaret Drabble (born 1939), 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 (1938–2016), 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 (1921–1998), American conductor
* Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858–1925), American poet
* Margaret Sherratt Keys (1856-1942) , British-born American artist, china painter, store proprietor
* 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 Nielsen (1933–2023), New Zealand pianist and music teacher
* 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 Preece, British operatic soprano
* Margaret Qualley (born 1994), American actress
* Margaret Quimby (1904–1965), American actress
* 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 Seguier (1795–1870), British miniature painter
* Margaret Severin-Hansen, American ballerina
* Margaret Singana (1938–2000), South African musician
* Margaret (singer) (born 1991), Polish singer and songwriter
* Margaret Tracey (born 1967), American ballet dancer
* Margaret Travolta (born 1946), 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

* 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 Abraham, professor of sociology
* 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 (born 1936), American computer scientist
* Margaret Keenan Harrais (1872–1964), American educator; first woman superintendent of schools in Fairbanks, Alaska
* Margaret Fordyce Dalrymple Hay (1889–1975), Australian University of Sydney Law School administrator
* Margaret Holden (died 1998), British botanist, biochemist
* Margaret Howe Lovatt, naturalist
* Margaret Hutchinson (1904–1997), English educator, naturalist and author
* Margaret Lin Xavier (1898–1932), Thai physician
* Margaret Mead (1901–1978), American anthropologist
* Margaret Murray (1863-1963), Anglo-Indian academic, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist and folklorist.
* 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

* Margaret A. Davidson (1950–2017), American lawyer and coastal science pioneer
* Margaret (Ann) Coffey (born 1946), former British Member of Parliament for Stockport
* Margaret Abela (born 1949), 8th First Lady of Malta
* Margaret Aachilla Aleper (born 1963), Ugandan politician
* Margaret H. Barden, was a New Hampshire state legislator
* Margaret Beckett (born 1943), British Member of Parliament for Derby South
* Margaret Bondfield (1873–1953), first woman Cabinet minister in the United Kingdom
* 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 Cousins (1878–1954) Irish-Indian suffragist who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC)
* 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 Legum (1933–2007), South African anti-apartheid activist and social reformer
* Margaret Sara Meggitt (1866–1920), British political activist and suffragette
* 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
* Marguerite Thomas-Clement (1886–1979), Luxembourger politician
* Margeret (Maggie) Throup (born 1967), British Member of Parliament for Erewash

## Sports

* Margaret Akidor (born 2002), Kenyan runner
* Margaret Abbott (1878–1955), American golfer
* 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
* Margaret "Polly" Palfrey Woodrow (1906-1997), American tennis player

## Other

* 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 Gardiner (born 1959), South African journalist, beauty queen and Miss Universe
* 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 Roberts (1937–2017), South African herbalist
* Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), founder of the birth control movement in the United States
* Margaret Swain (1909–2002), English embroidery and textile historian
* Margaret Hicks Williams (1899-1972), American government official, writer, political expert

## Fictional characters

* 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
* Mary Margaret Blanchard, a main character in ABC TV show Once Upon A Time, played by Ginnifer Goodwin
* 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