Margo
Feminine · “pearl”
Margo is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 27,208 girls against 34 boys since 1880.
Margo is the plain-spelled English cousin of the French Margot, which began life as an affectionate short form of Marguerite. Behind both stands the Greek word for pearl, carried into Latin, then French, then English, and worn by saints and queens along the way. Two syllables, an open first vowel, a rounded ending — it says itself the same way in nearly every language it has landed in.
How old is the name Margo?
Margo first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Margo alive today was born around 1962, making them about 63 years old. About 22,500 people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Margo most popular?
Margo peaked in 1951, reaching #295 nationally. Today it ranks #559, 264 places below that high. See the whole 1951 chart.
Margo appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Margarites to Margo
The story of Margo
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. English and American families who liked the sound but not the silent French -t wrote it as they said it: Margo. That spelling has been on American records since the early twentieth century and has never fully left them.
Meaning
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.
How the name formed
- Margarites
- Margarita
- Marguerite
- Margot
- Margo
Related forms: Margot · Marguerite · Margaret · Margarita · Margherita · Margarete
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Margo
High
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
- 1905
- Most girls named
- 1952677 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #295reached in 1951
- Change vs 2023
- −2.9%540 in 2025, from 556
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.
Margo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Margot in French — spelling variant
- Marguerite in French — related form
- Margaret in English — related form
- Margarita in Spanish — related form
- Margherita in Italian — related form
- Margarete in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Ohio.
Margos among us
people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 2,976 born in 2025 was named Margo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Earline test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Margo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Earline climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Earline's path sketches the road Margo is walking now.
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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Margo is headed
Margo looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 23% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Margo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Margo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Has stayed on American records for well over a century without ever becoming a name several children in a class share.
- 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.
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What they receive
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Margo
Feminine · #559 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Margos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 22,500 people named Margo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Margo in 2025?
- Margo ranks #559 among US girl names in 2025, with 540 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Margo?
- About 1 in every 2,976 US girls born in 2025 was named Margo — 540 in all.
- Will my child share the name Margo with classmates?
- Margo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Margo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jacqueline#558 · Mavis#560 · Lilian#560 · Stephanie#557 · Kamryn#556 · Armani#562 · Della#563 · Izabella#564
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Margo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Margo and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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