Head to head · Girls' names
Margot vs Maria
#102 vs #87 in 2025
Maria is a whisker ahead (#87 vs #102 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maria is back after a long quiet spell, Margot is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Margot has the edge.
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, Maria leads 5 measures of 6; Margot 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
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Margot —, Maria #137 — Maria higher
- 1890s: Margot #1487, Maria #149 — Maria higher
- 1900s: Margot #1439, Maria #143 — Maria higher
- 1910s: Margot #1195, Maria #140 — Maria higher
- 1920s: Margot #1128, Maria #119 — Maria higher
- 1930s: Margot #646, Maria #116 — Maria higher
- 1940s: Margot #721, Maria #90 — Maria higher
- 1950s: Margot #921, Maria #69 — Maria higher
- 1960s: Margot #970, Maria #46 — Maria higher
- 1970s: Margot #1644, Maria #34 — Maria higher
- 1980s: Margot #1351, Maria #48 — Maria higher
- 1990s: Margot #1615, Maria #43 — Maria higher
- 2000s: Margot #1723, Maria #48 — Maria higher
- 2010s: Margot #753, Maria #106 — Maria higher
- 2020s: Margot #166, Maria #91 — Maria higher
Maria stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Margot | Maria |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #137 |
| 1890s | #1487 | #149 |
| 1900s | #1439 | #143 |
| 1910s | #1195 | #140 |
| 1920s | #1128 | #119 |
| 1930s | #646 | #116 |
| 1940s | #721 | #90 |
| 1950s | #921 | #69 |
| 1960s | #970 | #46 |
| 1970s | #1644 | #34 |
| 1980s | #1351 | #48 |
| 1990s | #1615 | #43 |
| 2000s | #1723 | #48 |
| 2010s | #753 | #106 |
| 2020s | #166 | #91 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Margot
- England & Wales#28
- France#46
- Canada#68
- Scotland#79
Maria
- France#60
- Canada#72
- England & Wales#91
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Margot
pearl
The pearl sense comes through Marguerite from Latin margarita and Greek margarites. In French, marguerite is also the word for a daisy, so the flower travels alongside the name.
Margarites → Margarita → Marguerite → Margot
How it traveled
The root is the Greek margarites, pearl, which passed into Latin as margarita and into medieval French as Marguerite — a name spread widely across Europe by the cult of Saint Margaret. Margot arose as its clipped familiar form in French and stuck there for centuries: Marguerite de Valois, the sixteenth-century queen of Navarre, was known as la reine Margot, and Dumas used exactly that title for his novel in 1845.
Maria
Uncertain; the leading readings are 'beloved' and 'bitter'
Maria descends from Hebrew Miryam, whose origin was already unclear to ancient commentators. Some scholars trace it to Egyptian mry, 'beloved', which fits a name borne in a period of Egyptian influence; an older tradition read it through Hebrew mar, 'bitter'. The familiar 'star of the sea' gloss comes from a medieval Latin reading of the name as stella maris and is not an etymology of the Hebrew.
Miryam → Mariam → Maria → Marie → Mary
How it traveled
The name begins as Miryam in the Hebrew Bible, borne by the sister of Moses. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated those scriptures into Greek, they wrote it Mariam, and Greek and Latin writers settled on Maria — the spelling the Latin New Testament carried into every corner of the Roman world.
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
Margot
MAR-go
The final t is silent, following the French. A hard-t reading (MAR-got) turns up occasionally in English and is worth deciding on early, since the spelling invites both.
- Margo — The same name without the French t; used as a full given name in its own right as often as a simplification.
- Mags — Informal, borrowed from the Margaret side of the family; playground and family use rather than paperwork.
- Mo — Very informal, one syllable, mostly within families.
- Margie — An older short form more associated with Margaret and Marjorie, occasionally used here too.
Maria
muh-REE-uh
Spanish and Italian speakers say mah-REE-ah, with a cleaner first vowel and a trilled or tapped r. An older English pronunciation, muh-RY-uh, survives in some hymn and song traditions and in a few families, so it is worth stating your preference once and letting it settle.
- Mia — Informal short form and, for a long time now, a fully independent given name in its own right.
- Ria — Informal; common in Dutch, German and Indonesian usage, and used on its own as a given name in several countries.
- Mari — Informal in English-speaking families; a standard given name in Welsh, Norwegian and Japanese, where it has separate roots.
- Masha — The standard Russian familiar form of Mariya, used within families and among friends rather than formally.
- Also Maruja, Mimi.
Who has carried each name
Margot
Margot Robbie (b. 1990) — Barbie herself — and an Oscar-nominated producer
Margot Fonteyn (b. 1919) — Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet
Margot Frank (b. 1926) — Anne Frank's older sister
Maria
Maria Montessori (b. 1870) — Physician who created the Montessori method of education
Maria Callas (b. 1923) — The century's most famous opera diva
Maria Goeppert Mayer (b. 1906) — Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Margot if you want…
- a name fewer children share#102 in 2025 — margot will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 132 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMargot is 2 syllables to Maria's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMargot is on the national lists of England & Wales, France, Canada and Scotland
Choose Maria if you want…
- a name most people already know#87 in 2025, 2,887 babies that year
- a name with more sound in itMaria runs 3 syllables, Margot 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Mia, Ria and Mari
- a long American recordMaria was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Margot
Strengths
- Two syllables, stress on the first, and no cluster of consonants to trip over when said aloud.
- Already a short form, so it needs no nickname to work in daily life.
- Belongs to one of Europe's largest name families — Marguerite, Margaret, Margherita, Margarita all connect back to it.
To consider
- The silent t means a lifetime of small corrections: Margot, Margo and Margaux all sound the same, and people will guess wrong in both directions.
- The name is climbing quickly, so a child born now may meet more Margots than today's numbers suggest — the classroom picture tends to lag the trend by a few years.
- In recent memory the name is strongly attached to one very visible actor, which can mean an association-by-reflex for a while. Fame moves on; the name predates it by centuries.
Maria
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and German — no explaining, no correcting, in most of the languages a family is likely to meet.
- Currently charts in France, Canada and England and Wales as well as the United States, so it travels without becoming a foreign name anywhere.
- Two thousand years of unbroken written use, and it still turns up on class lists — long history without feeling like a costume.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate in English, muh-REE-uh and the older muh-RY-uh. Most people will default to the first, but expect to correct the occasional stranger either way.
- The link to the Virgin Mary is direct and unmistakable, which many families want and some would rather avoid. It is not a connotation the name can shed.
- In Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families the name is so widespread, often in compounds like María José, that there may already be a Maria or two among the relatives.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Margot
59%chance Margot feels dated by 2040
Margot is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Maria
12%chance Maria feels dated by 2040
Maria has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Margot and Maria 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 Margot and Maria?
Put both to the vote.
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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 these names appear on
- About to go mainstream: next year's top-100
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- Two-syllable names, the American default
- all guides
Where Margot and Maria each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Margot or Maria — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Margot or Maria?
- Maria, in 2025: Maria ranked #87 with 2,887 babies; Margot ranked #102 with 2,575 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Margot or Maria?
- Margot. Over the last five years Margot moved up 132 places; Maria moved up 22 places.
- Which is the older name, Margot or Maria?
- Margot entered the US charts in 1894; Maria was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Maria is the older name.
- How many people are named Margot and Maria?
- About 23,000 people named Margot are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 470,000 people named Maria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Margots or Marias in the classroom?
- Margot will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maria will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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