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Meggie

Feminine · Greek roots · “pearl (as Margaret”

1980high 1985
Rare todaygiven to only a few children a year
rare

Meggie is the pet form of Meg, itself short for Margaret, and it is the name of the heroine of Colleen McCullough's The Thorn Birds: Meggie Cleary, who grows up on a sheep station in New South Wales.

How old is the name Meggie?

Meggie first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Meggie alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 500 people named Meggie are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Meggie most popular?

Meggie peaked in 1985, reaching #2203 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.

Compare this nameMore “M” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Meggie

Margaret came into English from Greek through Latin, and English speakers shortened it early to Meg; the -ie ending made Meggie, a form long heard in Scotland and the north of England. The best-known Meggie in print is Meggie Cleary, the heroine of The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCullough's Australian family saga, later made into a television miniseries. Beyond Margaret and Meg, the spelling has no separate history.

Meaning

pearl (as Margaret, Greek)

Margaret comes from Greek margarites, 'pearl'. Meggie is a pet form of Meg, the traditional English short form of Margaret, and carries the same meaning.

How the name formed

  1. margaritesGreek
  2. MargaritaLatin
  3. Margaret
  4. Meg
  5. Meggie

Related forms: Marguerite · Margherita · Mared

Pronouncing Meggie

MEG-ee

Hard g, as in Meg; stress on the first syllable.

Nicknames for Meggie

Limited

MegThe older short form, used for centuries for Margaret and still standing alone as a name
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

GIRLS NAMED · 1980–20254724047519802015

US babies named Meggie per year from 1980 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#22031980s2010s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1980
Most girls named
198547 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#2203reached in 1985
Change vs 2014
0.0%5 in 2015, from 5
Meggie sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 1985, with 47 girls. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

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.

Meggie in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • Marguerite in French — related form
  • Margherita in Italian — related form
  • Mared in Welsh — related form

Meggies among us

500

people named Meggie are estimated to be alive in the US today

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

III

Is it right for you

Fashion outlook

Meggie 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

Practical strengths
  • A pet form with a long English and Scottish record.
  • Margaret's meaning, 'pearl', comes with it.
  • A well-known literary heroine carries this exact spelling.
What to consider
  • It reads as a nickname, and some families prefer Margaret on the birth certificate with Meggie for every day.
  • The Thorn Birds is well remembered, and some readers will connect the name with that novel's forbidden romance.

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Meggie

Feminine · Greek roots

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Frequently asked

How many Meggies are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Meggie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How popular is the name Meggie in 2025?
Meggie is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
Will my child share the name Meggie with classmates?
Meggie 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 Meggie? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Meggie and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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