Head to head · Girls' names
Margo vs Mavis
#559 vs #560 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
Margo is a whisker ahead (#559 vs #560 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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
The tape is even: Margo and Mavis each lead 3 measures of 6.
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
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Margo —, Mavis #1097 — Mavis higher
- 1900s: Margo #1764, Mavis #759 — Mavis higher
- 1910s: Margo #1841, Mavis #511 — Mavis higher
- 1920s: Margo #1474, Mavis #278 — Mavis higher
- 1930s: Margo #802, Mavis #293 — Mavis higher
- 1940s: Margo #329, Mavis #462 — Margo higher
- 1950s: Margo #362, Mavis #733 — Margo higher
- 1960s: Margo #487, Mavis #1206 — Margo higher
- 1970s: Margo #709, Mavis #2505 — Margo higher
- 1980s: Margo #926, Mavis #4634 — Margo higher
- 1990s: Margo #1393, Mavis #7044 — Margo higher
- 2000s: Margo #2096, Mavis #8483 — Margo higher
- 2010s: Margo #1478, Mavis #2093 — Margo higher
- 2020s: Margo #611, Mavis #666 — Margo higher
Margo stood higher in 9 of 14 decades; Margo has held the lead since the 1940s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Margo | Mavis |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1097 |
| 1900s | #1764 | #759 |
| 1910s | #1841 | #511 |
| 1920s | #1474 | #278 |
| 1930s | #802 | #293 |
| 1940s | #329 | #462 |
| 1950s | #362 | #733 |
| 1960s | #487 | #1206 |
| 1970s | #709 | #2505 |
| 1980s | #926 | #4634 |
| 1990s | #1393 | #7044 |
| 2000s | #2096 | #8483 |
| 2010s | #1478 | #2093 |
| 2020s | #611 | #666 |
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
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.
Mavis
song thrush
From Middle English mavis, borrowed from Old French mauvis, the name for the thrush — a word English and Scottish poets kept alive long after ordinary speech dropped it.
mauvis (Old French) → mavis (Middle English word for the thrush) → Mavis (English given name)
How it traveled
The word arrived in English from Old French mauvis and settled in as the literary name for the song thrush, appearing in poetry well into the nineteenth century after everyday speech had switched to "thrush". It was already in scattered use as a girl's name when Marie Corelli published The Sorrows of Satan in 1895, giving her heroine the name Mavis Clare; the novel was enormously read and the name spread widely in Britain, then in the United States.
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
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.
Mavis
MAY-viss
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives the sound away, so it rarely needs repeating over the phone.
- Mave — The most common short form, informal; occasionally written Maeve, which is a separate Irish name in its own right.
- Mavie — Affectionate diminutive, used within families rather than formally.
- May — Informal shortening from the first syllable; also stands alone as a given name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Margo if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Margo from Mavis.
Choose Mavis if you want…
- a name on the way upup 280 places on the charts in five years
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
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.
Mavis
Strengths
- Spelled exactly as it sounds and short enough to write early — no correction required at the start of every school year.
- An unbroken record on American name lists stretching back to the Victorian era, so it is familiar rather than newly coined.
- A documented word meaning behind it: the song thrush, from Old French through Middle English poetry.
To consider
- Most Mavises alive in the US today are in their eighties and older, so the name still reads as a grandmother's name to many ears. That is precisely what makes it available again, but the association is real for now.
- A child named Mavis will very likely be the only one in her school, which some children enjoy and others do not.
- The meaning is lovely and almost nobody knows it — "mavis" left everyday English long ago, so you will be the one explaining the bird.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Margo and Mavis 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 Margo and Mavis?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
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 Margo and Mavis — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Margo or Mavis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Margo or Mavis?
- Margo, in 2025: Margo ranked #559 with 540 babies; Mavis ranked #560 with 537 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Margo or Mavis?
- Mavis. Over the last five years Margo moved up 206 places; Mavis moved up 280 places.
- Which is the older name, Margo or Mavis?
- Margo entered the US charts in 1905; Mavis entered the US charts in 1893. On the American record, Mavis is the older name.
- How many people are named Margo and Mavis?
- About 22,500 people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,000 people named Mavis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Margos or Maviss in the classroom?
- Margo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mavis 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Margo, Mavis and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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