Margaret Rutherford
There are approximately 38 people named Margaret Rutherford living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 9,019,851 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Margaret with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Rutherford. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
38
1 in 9,019,851
Named Margaret
425K
Alive today
Named Rutherford
31K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 425K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1921
Average age: 60
Top Census group: White (86.0%)
Estimated bearers: 31K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #1,290
Per 100K: 8.92
Top ancestry: White (79.2%)
First name trend
Margaret: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Margaret. The peak year was 1921 with 28,521 births. The average person named Margaret today is 60 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margaret
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Margaret, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 86.0%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Margaret described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Margaret at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White86.0% · 472,944
- Black or African American6.4% · 35,276
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 22,263
- Two or more races1.7% · 9,476
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 7,463
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2,293
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Rutherford surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Rutherford, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 79.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Rutherford described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Rutherford at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White79.2% · 21,111
- Black or African American11.6% · 3,081
- Two or more races4.6% · 1,216
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 824
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 269
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 166
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Margaret has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1239% of the US population, based on 424,744 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Margaret right now.
The surname Rutherford appears at a rate of 8.92 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0089%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 38 people with the full name Margaret Rutherford. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Margaret
Related
Other people with the surname Rutherford
FAQ
Margaret Rutherford: questions and answers
How many people are named Margaret Rutherford?
We estimate approximately 38 people in the United States share the full name Margaret Rutherford. That works out to about 1 in 9,019,851 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1239%) with the surname frequency (8.92 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Margaret Rutherford?
We classify Margaret Rutherford as "Very Rare". About 1 in 9,019,851 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Margaret a male or female name?
Margaret is predominantly female. Out of 1,266,052 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Margaret profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Margaret Rutherford?
If you just want to know how common the name Margaret Rutherford is, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.