Marguerita
A feminine name of French origin meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 593 living Americans carry the first name Marguerita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marguerita today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marguerita births was 1961 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marguerita. 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 Marguerita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
593
~ 1 in 578,001 Americans
Peak year
1961
34 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1994 SSA rank
#14,846
Tracked since 1891
Census
Marguerita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 976 people with the first name Marguerita, which placed it at #12,669 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
#12,669
National first-name rank
People counted
976
976 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marguerita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marguerita is White at 37.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Black (25.7%). 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 Marguerita 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 Marguerita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.7% · 368
- Hispanic or Latino31.1% · 304
- Black or African American25.7% · 251
- Two or more races3.2% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 11
Popularity
Marguerita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marguerita from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 228 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Marguerita 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 Marguerita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Margueritas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Marguerita, while Ohio, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Marguerita
The name Marguerita has its origins in the French language, derived from the Latin word "margarita," which means "pearl." The name gained popularity across Europe during the Middle Ages.
In ancient Greek mythology, the word "margarites" referred to a type of pearl oyster. This connection to pearls and their value likely contributed to the name's association with beauty and purity.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Marguerita can be found in the 12th century, when it was used by the noble family of Montferrat in northern Italy. During this time, the name was also adopted by several members of royal families across Europe, including Princess Marguerita of France (1282-1317), who was the daughter of King Philip III.
The name Marguerita has a rich literary history as well. In the 16th century, the famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes featured a character named Margarita in his novel "El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha," better known as "Don Quixote."
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Marguerita. These include Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549), a French princess and author who was a prominent figure during the Renaissance; Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615), a French princess and Queen consort of Navarre; and Marguerite Bourgeoys (1620-1700), a French-Canadian nun who founded the Congregation of Notre Dame and is considered a pioneer in education in Canada.
Other famous women named Marguerita include Marguerita Rudolph (1532-1598), a German noble and princess; and Marguerita de Siena (1347-1423), an Italian mystic and philosopher who was later canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church.
The name Marguerita has maintained its popularity over the centuries, with variations such as Margaret, Margarita, and Margot being used across different cultures and languages. Its enduring appeal can be attributed to its rich historical significance, literary connections, and associations with beauty and purity.
People
Marguerita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marguerita 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
Marguerita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marguerita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marguerita 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 578,001 US residents.
Is Marguerita a common name?
We classify Marguerita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,308 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marguerita most popular?
The single biggest year for Marguerita was 1961, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marguerita is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marguerita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 976 people with the name Marguerita, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,669 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 Marguerita 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 Marguerita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marguerita appears almost entirely female. Of the 977 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Marguerita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marguerita is White at 37.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (31.1%) and Black (25.7%). 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 Marguerita most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Marguerita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.7% (368 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 Marguerita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marguerita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marguerita 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 Marguerita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marguerita 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 Marguerita 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 Marguerita as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Marguerita at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.