Maguire
Masculine · “son of the dun-colored one”
Maguire is given to both — 577 boys and 118 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Maguire is an Irish surname, Mag Uidhir, the family that ruled Fermanagh from a castle on the River Erne. As a first name it has mostly gone to boys, with a smaller share of girls, and it carries the easy rhythm of a surname said in full.
How old is the name Maguire?
Maguire first appears in US birth records in 1997 — 28 years ago. The typical Maguire alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 600 people named Maguire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Maguire most popular?
Maguire peaked in 2000, reaching #1924 nationally. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Odhar to Maguire
The story of Maguire
The Maguires rose to rule the lakes and islands of Fermanagh in the later Middle Ages, with their seat at Enniskillen, where their castle still guards the crossing of the River Erne. Odhar, the name at the root of the family, is the Irish word for a dun color, somewhere between grey and brown, the color of an old horse or a winter field. When the surname crossed to America it became a first name for boys and, less often, for girls, the way many Irish surnames have.
Meaning
son of the dun-colored one
From Irish Mag Uidhir, son of Odhar, a personal name meaning dun or pale brown. Mag is the form mac takes before a vowel in some Irish surnames.
How the name formed
- Odhar
- Mag Uidhir
- Maguire
Related forms: Mag Uidhir · McGuire
Pronouncing Maguire
muh-GWIRE
Stress on the second syllable, which rhymes with fire.
Nicknames for Maguire
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1997
- Most boys named
- 200054 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1924reached in 2000
- Change vs 2022
- −22.2%7 in 2023, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Maguire in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mag Uidhir in Irish — related form
- McGuire in English — spelling variant
Maguires among us
people named Maguire are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Maguire sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a clear Irish origin and a documented family history.
- It sounds confident and is easy to say.
- It is rare as a first name.
- Many people will think of the film Jerry Maguire or the actor Tobey Maguire first.
- Most children named Maguire are boys, so a girl with the name may be taken for a boy on paper.
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What they receive
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Maguire
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Maguires are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Maguire are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Maguire in 2025?
- Maguire is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Maguire with classmates?
- Maguire will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Maguire? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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