Margret
A feminine name of French origin meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 3,745 living Americans carry the first name Margret. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Margret today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Margret births was 1921 (214 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Margret. 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
3.7K
~ 1 in 91,523 Americans
Peak year
1921
214 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,098
Tracked since 1880
Census
Margret in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,412 people with the first name Margret, which placed it at #2,772 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
#2,772
National first-name rank
People counted
8.4K
8,412 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margret
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margret is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Margret 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 Margret at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.5% · 6,439
- Black or African American11.9% · 997
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 543
- Two or more races2.2% · 183
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 145
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 105
Popularity
Margret: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Margret 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 1,850 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
Margret 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 Margret during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Margrets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. Texas, California, Alabama recorded the most babies named Margret, while Utah, Nebraska, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 134 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Margret
The name Margret originated from the Greek word "margarites", meaning pearl. Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a term to describe a lustrous, precious gem. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in Europe, particularly in regions influenced by the Byzantine culture and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Margret can be found in the 4th century, when it was mentioned in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, a prominent Christian bishop and theologian. He used the term "margarites" as a metaphor for the purity and radiance of the Christian faith.
During the Medieval period, the name Margret became associated with various saints and historical figures. One notable example is St. Margaret of Antioch, a 3rd-century martyr who was venerated in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Her legend involved her being swallowed by a dragon, which she miraculously escaped from unharmed.
Another significant figure bearing the name Margret was Margaret of Anjou (1430-1482), the wife of King Henry VI of England. She played a crucial role in the Wars of the Roses, leading the Lancastrian faction against the House of York. Her determination and resilience during the conflict earned her a place in English history.
In the 12th century, Margret was a popular name among the nobility in Germany and Austria. One noteworthy bearer was Margret of Brabant (1193-1270), who was the Countess of Flanders and Hainaut. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her efforts in promoting peace between warring factions.
The name Margret also had a strong presence in Scandinavia, particularly in Norway and Sweden. One famous bearer was Margret I of Denmark (1353-1412), who ruled as the Queen of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. She was instrumental in establishing the Kalmar Union, which unified the three Scandinavian kingdoms under one monarch.
Throughout history, the name Margret has been borne by many influential women, including Margret of Anjou, Queen of England; Margret of Valois, Queen of Navarre; Margret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and mother of King Henry VII of England; Margret Tudor, Queen of Scotland; and Margret of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands.
People
Margret + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Margret 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
Margret: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Margret?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,745 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Margret 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 91,523 US residents.
Is Margret a common name?
We classify Margret as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,047 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Margret most popular?
The single biggest year for Margret was 1921, when 214 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Margret is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Margret in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,412 people with the name Margret, or 2.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,772 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 Margret 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 Margret?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Margret appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,420 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 Margret?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margret is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Margret most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Margret in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (6,439 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 Margret in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Margret a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Margret 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 Margret still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Margret 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 Margret 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 Margret?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.