Margareta
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Margareta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Margareta today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Margareta births was 1927 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Margareta. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Margareta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
1927
17 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,790
Tracked since 1898
Census
Margareta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,413 people with the first name Margareta, which placed it at #9,721 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,721
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,413 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margareta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margareta is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Black (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Margareta described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Margareta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.0% · 1,017
- Hispanic or Latino21.4% · 302
- Black or African American3.5% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 26
- Two or more races1.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Margareta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Margareta from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 98 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Margareta by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Margareta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Margareta
The name Margareta has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "margarites" meaning pearl. It first appeared in the 3rd century BCE as the Greek name Margarites. Over time, it evolved into the Latin name Margarita, which spread throughout Europe during the Roman era.
In the 4th century CE, the name gained popularity within the Christian faith, as it was borne by St. Margaret of Antioch, a semi-legendary virgin martyr. Her story of being swallowed by a dragon and emerging unharmed was widely celebrated, and the name became associated with virtue and strength.
The name Margareta is a variation of the same name, primarily used in Germanic and Scandinavian regions. It first appeared in written records in the 9th century, with the birth of Princess Margareta of Germany in 833 CE.
One of the earliest and most notable figures bearing the name was Margaret of Provence (1221-1295), Queen of France. She was a formidable political figure who served as regent during the absence of her husband, King Louis IX.
In the 14th century, Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482) was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses in England. As the wife of King Henry VI, she led the Lancastrian forces against the House of York and played a pivotal role in the conflict.
The name gained further prominence with the birth of Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), daughter of King Henry VII of England. She became Queen of Scotland through her marriage to King James IV and was a crucial figure in the union of the Scottish and English crowns.
Another notable bearer of the name was Margaret of Valois (1553-1615), Queen of France and Navarre. She was a prominent figure during the French Wars of Religion and played a crucial role in the peace negotiations that led to the Edict of Nantes.
Throughout history, the name Margareta has been borne by numerous other influential women, including saints, royalty, and cultural figures, cementing its legacy as a name associated with strength, resilience, and grace.
People
Margareta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Margareta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Margareta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Margareta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Margareta going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Margareta a common name?
We classify Margareta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Margareta most popular?
The single biggest year for Margareta was 1927, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Margareta is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Margareta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,413 people with the name Margareta, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,721 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Margareta in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Margareta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Margareta appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,415 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Margareta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margareta is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.4%) and Black (3.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Margareta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Margareta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (1,017 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Margareta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Margareta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Margareta in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Margareta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Margareta in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Margareta can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Margareta as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.