Margit
A Swedish feminine name derived from the pearl or a Germanic compound meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 359 living Americans carry the first name Margit. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Margit today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Margit births was 1959 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Margit. 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.
People living today
359
~ 1 in 954,747 Americans
Peak year
1959
20 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1993 SSA rank
#10,188
Tracked since 1908
Census
Margit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,753 people with the first name Margit, which placed it at #8,304 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
#8,304
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,753 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margit is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Margit 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 Margit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.6% · 1,675
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 45
- Two or more races1.0% · 18
- Black or African American0.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Popularity
Margit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Margit from the 1900s through to the 1990s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 137 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Margit 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 Margit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Margits live
Origin
Meaning and history of Margit
Margit is a feminine given name with its origins traced back to Ancient Greek and Old Persian. The name is derived from the Greek word "margarites," which means "pearl." In Old Persian, the word "murvari" also means "pearl," suggesting a possible connection between the two linguistic roots.
The name Margit gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Germanic and Scandinavian regions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, where it was used for female characters as early as the 12th century.
In the 13th century, Margit of Navarre (1194-1237), also known as Marguerite de Navarre, was a prominent figure who bore this name. She was the Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne, known for her influential role in the cultural and political affairs of her time.
Another notable figure in history with this name was Margit of Denmark (1353-1412), a Danish princess and member of the House of Estridsen. She played a significant role in the political events of the Kalmar Union, which united the Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden under a single monarch.
In the 15th century, Margit of Scotland (1425-1486), also known as Margaret of Denmark, was a Danish princess who became the Queen of Scotland through her marriage to King James III. She was an influential figure in Scottish politics and is remembered for her involvement in the Wars of the Roses.
During the 16th century, Margit of Brandenburg (1511-1577) was a German princess and Duchess of Pomerania. She was known for her support of the Protestant Reformation and her patronage of the arts and education.
In the 17th century, Margit Klaunig (1620-1689) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic who lived in Kaltern, South Tyrol. She is venerated as a Blessed in the Catholic Church and is known for her spiritual writings and teachings.
People
Margit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Margit 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
Margit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Margit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 359 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Margit 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 954,747 US residents.
Is Margit a common name?
We classify Margit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 672 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Margit most popular?
The single biggest year for Margit was 1959, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Margit is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Margit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,753 people with the name Margit, or 0.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,304 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 Margit 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 Margit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Margit appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,755 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Margit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margit is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.6%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Margit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Margit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.6% (1,675 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 Margit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Margit a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Margit 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 Margit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Margit 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 Margit 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 Americans are named Margit?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.