Head to head · Girls' names
Jacqueline vs Margo
#558 vs #559 in 2025
Jacqueline is a whisker ahead (#558 vs #559 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jacqueline is stepping back from its peak, Margo is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Margo has the edge.
Each name in full: Jacqueline · Margo
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Jacqueline leads 5 measures of 6; Margo leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Jacqueline — stepping back from its peak. About 344,000 people named Jacqueline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Margo — back after a long quiet spell. About 22,500 people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Jacqueline #1219, Margo — — Jacqueline higher
- 1900s: Jacqueline #700, Margo #1764 — Jacqueline higher
- 1910s: Jacqueline #459, Margo #1841 — Jacqueline higher
- 1920s: Jacqueline #159, Margo #1474 — Jacqueline higher
- 1930s: Jacqueline #76, Margo #802 — Jacqueline higher
- 1940s: Jacqueline #65, Margo #329 — Jacqueline higher
- 1950s: Jacqueline #75, Margo #362 — Jacqueline higher
- 1960s: Jacqueline #51, Margo #487 — Jacqueline higher
- 1970s: Jacqueline #83, Margo #709 — Jacqueline higher
- 1980s: Jacqueline #61, Margo #926 — Jacqueline higher
- 1990s: Jacqueline #74, Margo #1393 — Jacqueline higher
- 2000s: Jacqueline #111, Margo #2096 — Jacqueline higher
- 2010s: Jacqueline #271, Margo #1478 — Jacqueline higher
- 2020s: Jacqueline #517, Margo #611 — Jacqueline higher
Jacqueline stood higher in every recorded decade — 14 of 14.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jacqueline | Margo |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1219 | — |
| 1900s | #700 | #1764 |
| 1910s | #459 | #1841 |
| 1920s | #159 | #1474 |
| 1930s | #76 | #802 |
| 1940s | #65 | #329 |
| 1950s | #75 | #362 |
| 1960s | #51 | #487 |
| 1970s | #83 | #709 |
| 1980s | #61 | #926 |
| 1990s | #74 | #1393 |
| 2000s | #111 | #2096 |
| 2010s | #271 | #1478 |
| 2020s | #517 | #611 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Jacqueline
supplanter
The name descends through Latin and Greek from the Hebrew name behind Jacob and James, and the traditional reading about supplanting is a pun made inside the biblical text rather than an etymology. Modern scholarship treats it as such. The French feminine ending contributes affection rather than sense.
A Hebrew name behind both Jacob and James → Jacques in French, with a French feminine built on it → Almost unknown in English before the twentieth century → A sharp American peak at the start of the nineteen sixties
How it traveled
A young woman married a senator in nineteen fifty-three, and by the start of nineteen sixty-one she was the most photographed person in the world. The name climbed through the fifties on general fashion and then jumped sharply at the beginning of the sixties, peaking within a year of the inauguration and holding for most of the decade.
Margo
pearl
Margo descends from Margaret, whose root is Greek margarites, "pearl." The link is uncontested; only the route through French shortening is what makes Margo look different on paper.
Margarites → Margarita → Marguerite → Margot → Margo
How it traveled
The Greek margarites, "pearl," passed into Latin as Margarita and became one of medieval Europe's most widely borne women's names, spread by the cult of Saint Margaret. French speakers clipped Marguerite down to Margot — the pet name of Marguerite de Valois, sixteenth-century queen of Navarre, whom Alexandre Dumas later called la Reine Margot in his 1845 novel.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Jacqueline
JAK-uh-lin
Three syllables in American English with the stress on the first. French says it with the stress at the back and a nasal final vowel, giving something closer to zhak-LEEN, which is a noticeably different name written with identical letters.
- Jackie — Unisex, universally understood, and for a generation a specific reference.
- Jacqui — The French-flavored spelling of the same clipping, and common in Britain.
- Lena — Cut from the back, which nobody expects and which produces a complete European name.
Margo
MAR-goh
Stress on the first syllable, and the final syllable rhymes with "go." Identical to the French-spelled Margot, whose -t is silent.
- Mags — Informal, used among friends and family; shared with Margaret and Maggie.
- Margie — Informal; also stands alone as a given name, and still found among older generations.
- Marg — Clipped and informal, more common in Australian and Canadian English than American.
- Go — A family-only shortening; not used outside the household.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jacqueline if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJacqueline is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJacqueline runs 3 syllables, Margo 2
Choose Margo if you want…
- a name on the way upup 206 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMargo is 2 syllables to Jacqueline's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Jacqueline
Strengths
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- Jackie and Jacqui are two very different registers from one certificate.
- It carries a genuine French history and a very well-documented American one.
To consider
- The association with one particular woman is total for anybody over about sixty.
- The English and French pronunciations differ considerably.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
Margo
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds in English, which sidesteps the silent -t that trips people up with Margot.
- Part of an unbroken family of names — Margaret, Marguerite, Margarita — recognizable across most European languages.
- Already short: two syllables, no need for a nickname, though Mags and Margie are there if wanted.
To consider
- Margo, Margot and Margaux all exist and all sound alike. Expect a lifetime of people writing the French -t, and of gently correcting them.
- Because it began as a short form of Marguerite, some people will assume Margo is short for Margaret and ask for the "full" name.
- The name is still strongly represented among older generations, so it may read as a grandmother's name to some ears — which is much of the reason it is being picked up again now.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jacqueline
12%chance Jacqueline feels dated by 2040
Jacqueline has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Margo
30%chance Margo feels dated by 2040
Margo is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Jacqueline and Margo in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Jacqueline and Margo?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Jacqueline and Margo — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jacqueline or Margo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jacqueline or Margo?
- Jacqueline, in 2025: Jacqueline ranked #558 with 541 babies; Margo ranked #559 with 540 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jacqueline or Margo?
- Margo. Over the last five years Jacqueline moved down 115 places; Margo moved up 206 places.
- Which is the older name, Jacqueline or Margo?
- Jacqueline entered the US charts in 1891; Margo entered the US charts in 1905. On the American record, Jacqueline is the older name.
- How many people are named Jacqueline and Margo?
- About 344,000 people named Jacqueline are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,500 people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jacquelines or Margos in the classroom?
- Jacqueline will almost certainly be the only one in school. Margo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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