Marquerite
Feminine · “A pearl”
Marquerite moves a single letter in a French name, and the letter it moves is the one doing the most work — in French that u exists to keep the g hard, and putting it after a q instead leaves the g unguarded.
How old is the name Marquerite?
Marquerite first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Marquerite alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 300 people named Marquerite are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marquerite most popular?
Marquerite peaked in 1912, reaching #1055 nationally. See the whole 1912 chart.
Where it comes from
From Margaret to Marquerite
The story of Marquerite
French uses u as a silent guard. A g before e or i goes soft, so any word that needs a hard one inserts a u to block the change — guerre, guide, baguette — and the letter is never pronounced. The letter q has the opposite arrangement: it is always followed by u and the pair says a plain k. So moving the u one place to the left in this name takes a guard away from a letter that needs one and gives it to a letter that already had its own. It is the rare respelling that changes a real rule rather than just adding decoration.
Meaning
A pearl
The French form of a name that reaches Greek from further east with the pearl trade. The French spelling needs its u where the standard puts it; moved, the letters spell something French would say differently.
How the name formed
- Margaret
- Marguerite
- Marquerite
Related forms: Marguerite
Pronouncing Marquerite
mar-guh-REET
Three syllables with the stress at the back, which is where French puts it.
Nicknames for Marquerite
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
- 1890
- Most girls named
- 191428 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1055reached in 1912
- Change vs 1988
- −37.5%5 in 1994, from 8
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.
Marquerite in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marguerite in French — same name
Marquerites among us
people named Marquerite 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
Marquerite 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
- The meaning is settled and the family behind it is one of Europe's largest.
- It carries short forms that sound nothing like each other.
- The back stress gives it an elegant finish.
- Marguerite is the standard spelling and hers will be corrected to it.
- The moved letter breaks a French rule, which French speakers will notice.
- It is long, so it will be shortened by other people.
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Marquerite
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Marquerites are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Marquerite are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Marquerite in 2025?
- Marquerite is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Marquerite with classmates?
- Marquerite will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marquerite? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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