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Margaret

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For other uses, see Margaret (disambiguation).
Margaret
St. Margaret of Antioch.jpg
Margaret the Virgin is one of many saints named Margaret
GenderFemale
Name day23 May or 25 January
Origin
Word/nameSanskrit
MeaningPearl
Other names
Related namesMaggie, Mairead, Madge, Marguerite, Margarita, Margareta, Margarida, Margarete, Marge, Margo, Margot, Margie, Margit, Meg, Megan, Maisie, Rita, Gretchen, Gretel, Greta, Peggy

Margaret is a female first name, derived via French (Marguerite), Latin (Margarita), and Ancient Greek: μαργαρίτης (margarítēs, a pearl)[1] from the Old Persian word for pearl *margārīta- (compare Modern Persian morvārīd "pearl").

The Persian is cognate with the Sanskrit मञ्जरी mañjarī meaning "pearl" or "cluster of blossoms".[2][3][4][5]

Margaret has been an English name since the eleventh century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. It became less popular between the sixteenth century and eighteenth century, but became more common again after this period, becoming the second-most popular female name in the United States in 1903. Since this time, it has become less common, but was still the ninth-most common name for women of all ages in the United States as of the 1990 census.

Margaret has many diminutive forms in many different languages, including: Maggie, Mairead, Madge, Margarete, Marge, Margie, Meg, Megan, Rita, Gretchen, and Peggy.[6]

Aristocrats

Austria

  • Margaret, Countess of Tyrol (1318–1369)

Belgium and the Netherlands

  • Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold, Regent of France
  • Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480–1530), Princess of Asturias and Duchess of Savoy by her two marriages
  • Margaret of Parma (1522–1586), illegitimate daughter of Charles V and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst

Denmark

England, Scotland, and United Kingdom

  • Saint Margaret of Scotland, (c. 1045–1093), Queen of Scots
  • Margaret of Anjou (1430–1482), wife of King Henry VI of England
  • Margaret Pole, born Princess Margaret of York & Clarence (1473–1541), Countess of Salisbury
  • Margaret Tudor (1489–1541), elder sister of Henry VIII of England and great-grandmother of James I of England
  • Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (1443–1509), mother of King Henry VII and paternal grandmother of King Henry VIII of England
  • Margaret Douglas (1515–1578), daughter of Margaret Tudor
  • Princess Margaret of Connaught (1882–1920), elder daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
  • Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002), only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
  • Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923–2013), one of the UK's largest private landowners

France

Hungary

Norway

  • Margaret of Scotland (Maid of Norway) (1282–1290)

Romania

  • Margareta of Romania (born 1949)

Religious figures

Canonized

  • Saint Margaret the Virgin – the oldest and the most prominent; also known as Margaret of Antioch
  • Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (see Marie Alacoque)
  • Saint Margaret of Cortona
  • Saint Margaret of Scotland
  • Saint Margaret of Hungary (1242–1270)
  • Margaret Clitherow
  • Saint Margaret of England
  • Margaret the Barefooted
  • St Marguerite d'Youville of Canada

Beatified

Artists and authors

  • Margaret (singer) (born 1991), Polish singer and songwriter
  • Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian novelist and poet
  • Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
  • Margaret Barnard (1898–1992), British painter and linocut maker
  • Margaret Barr (choreographer) (1904–1991), Australian dance-drama choreographer
  • Margaret Berger (born 1985), Norwegian singer-songwriter
  • Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971), American photojournalist
  • Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858–1925), American poet
  • Margaret Busby, Ghanaian British publisher and writer
  • Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English writer, poet, and playwright.
  • Margaret Cho (born 1968), American comedian and actress
  • Margaret Clark (born 1943), Australian author
  • Margaret Clarkson, English artist
  • Margaret Cleaves, American physician, writer
  • Margaret Deland, American author
  • Margaret Drabble, English author
  • Margaret Forster, British author
  • Margaret Frame (1903–1985), Canadian painter
  • Margaret Fuller, American critic
  • Margaret Gale (born 1930), British operatic soprano
  • Margaret Harker (1920–2013), British photographer and historian of photography
  • Margaret Hillis, American conductor
  • MDH Keane (born 1927), American painter
  • Margaret Lane (1907–1994), British journalist, biographer and novelist
  • Margaret Larkin (1899–1967), American writer
  • Margaret Laurence (1926–1987), Canadian novelist
  • Margaret Wynne Lawless (1847–1926), American poet, author, educator, philanthropist
  • Margaret Leighton (1922–1976), English actress
  • Margaret Ogden (born 1952), American fantasy author best known by the pen name Robin Hobb
  • Margaret Lockwood (1916–1990), British actress
  • Margaret Manton Merrill, British-American journalist, writer, translator, elocutionist
  • Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949), American author
  • Margaret Oliphant (1828–1897), Scottish author
  • Margaret Eleanor Parker (1827–1896), American social activist, social reformer, travel writer
  • Margaret Peterson Haddix (born 1964), American writer
  • Margaret Randall (born 1936), US writer
  • Margaret Roper (1505–1544), English writer, translator
  • Margaret Rutherford (1892–1972), British actress of the stage and screen
  • Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838–1912), American author, poet, editor
  • Margaret Scobie (born 1948), Australian indigenous Aboriginal painter
  • Maggie Smith (born 1934), British actress
  • Meg Stuart (born 1965), American choreographer, dancer, performing artist
  • Margaret Ashmore Sudduth (1859–1957), American educator, editor, temperance advocate
  • Margaret Frances Sullivan (1847–1903), Irish-American writer, journalist, editor
  • Margaret Travolta, American actress
  • Margaret Walker (1915–1998), American author
  • Margaret Whiting (1924–2011), American popular music and country music singer
  • Margaret E. Winslow (1836–1936), American activist, editor, author
  • Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952), American author

Educators and scientists

  • Margaret Burbidge (born 1919), British astronomer
  • Margaret Byers (1832–1912), Irish educator, activist, social reformer, missionary, writer
  • Margaret Eleanor Cranson (1922-2020), American educator
  • Margaret Elisabeth Felix (born 1937, Indian educator
  • Margaret Frame, Scottish scientist
  • Margaret Gurney (1908–2002), American mathematician, statistician, and computer programmer
  • Margaret Angela Haley (1861–1939), American educator, promoted teachers unions
  • Margaret Hamilton, American computer scientist
  • Margaret Hutchinson, English educator, naturalist and author
  • Margaret Howe Lovatt, naturalist
  • Margaret Mead, American anthropologist
  • Margaret Warner Morley (1858–1923), American biologist, wrote children's books on biology
  • Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939), American psychologist
  • Margaret Wiecek, Polish-American operations researcher

Politics

  • Margaret Davidson (suffragist) (1879–1978), Scottish suffragist, teacher and WW1 nurse
  • Dame Margaret Davidson (1871–1964), British wife of colonial governor of New South Wales, Australia
  • Margaret A. Davidson (1950–2017), American lawyer and coastal science pioneer

Other

  • Margaret Brennan (1831–1887), Canadian nun
  • Margaret Brent (c. 1601–c. 1671), British colonial landowner, called the first American feminist
  • Margaret Casely-Hayford (born 1959), British lawyer
  • Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751–1800), fought in the U.S. Revolutionary War and was given a pension by Congress
  • Margaret Court (born 1942), Australian tennis player
  • Margaret Elizabeth Douglas (1934–2008), English television producer and executive
  • Margaret Feeny (1917–2012), founder and first director of London's Africa Centre
  • Margaret Groos (born 1959), American long-distance runner
  • Margaret Haughery (1813–1882), philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans"
  • Margaret Hoelzer (born 1983), American swimmer
  • Margaret Jeffery (1920–2004), British swimmer and Olympian
  • Margaret Jeffrey (1896–1977), Australian police officer
  • Margaret E. Kuhn (1905–1995), founder of the Gray Panthers
  • Margaret Martin (born 1979), American professional bodybuilder
  • Margaret Maughan (1928–2020), British Paralympic archer
  • Margaret McIver (1933–2020), Australian equestrian
  • Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828–1918), American philanthropist who established the Russell Sage Foundation
  • Margaret Prior (1773–1842), American humanitarian, missionary, moral reform worker, writer
  • Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), founder of the birth control movement in the United States
  • Margaret Swain (1909–2002), English embroidery and textile historian
  • Maisie Williams (born 1997), English actress.

Fictional characters

See also

  • Margaret (disambiguation)

References

  1. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Margaret" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 700.
  2. ^ "View Name: Margaret". Behind the Name. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Margaret". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. ^ "Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary". Universität zu Köln (University of Cologne). Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  5. ^ "مروارید". Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  6. ^ Cecil Adams (8 January 1993). "Why is Peggy the nickname for Margaret?". The Straight Dope. Retrieved 13 August 2012.

External links

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