Margarett
A feminine name derived from Greek meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 1,566 living Americans carry the first name Margarett. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Margarett today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Margarett births was 1922 (117 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Margarett. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Margarett is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Margaretts were born before 1968.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 218,873 Americans
Peak year
1922
117 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,750
Tracked since 1880
Census
Margarett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,160 people with the first name Margarett, which placed it at #7,138 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
#7,138
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,160 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margarett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margarett is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Margarett 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 Margarett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.2% · 1,495
- Black or African American20.6% · 444
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 122
- Two or more races2.6% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 19
Popularity
Margarett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Margarett from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,072 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
Margarett 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 Margarett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Margaretts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Margarett, while Maryland, Illinois, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 114 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Margarett
The name Margarett is derived from the Old French Marguerite, which in turn comes from the Greek name Margarites, meaning "pearl." It was originally used in the Byzantine Empire and spread throughout Europe during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Saint Margaret of Antioch, a semi-legendary virgin martyr who lived in the 3rd or 4th century AD. Her cult became popular across Europe, and many children were named in her honor.
The name Margarett gained popularity in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Several English princesses bore the name, including Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482), who was the wife of King Henry VI and a key figure in the Wars of the Roses.
Another notable Margarett was Margaret of Denmark (1456-1486), who was Queen of Scotland from 1469 until her death. She was known as a skilled diplomat and helped to maintain peace between Scotland and England during her reign.
In the 16th century, Margaret Tudor (1489-1541), the eldest daughter of King Henry VII of England, played a significant role in the political affairs of Scotland and England. She was twice Queen of Scots, first as the wife of King James IV and then as the regent for her infant grandson, King James V.
During the Renaissance, the name Margarett was associated with learning and intellect. One of the most famous examples is Margaret of Valois (1553-1615), who was a prolific writer, poet, and patron of the arts at the French court.
In the 17th century, Margaret Fell (1614-1702) was a prominent Quaker leader in England. She played a crucial role in the early development of the Quaker movement and advocated for religious tolerance and women's rights.
People
Margarett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Margarett 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
Margarett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Margarett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,566 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Margarett 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 218,873 US residents.
Is Margarett a common name?
We classify Margarett as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,926 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Margarett most popular?
The single biggest year for Margarett was 1922, when 117 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Margarett is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Margarett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,160 people with the name Margarett, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,138 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 Margarett 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 Margarett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Margarett appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,168 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Margarett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margarett is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Margarett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Margarett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.2% (1,495 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 Margarett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Margarett a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Margarett 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 Margarett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Margarett 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 Margarett 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 common is the name Margarett?
You can see how many Americans are named Margarett on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.