Midge
Feminine
Midge is a short form that has spent a century working as a whole name, and it is also one of the oldest insect words in English. The insect and the naming habit have nothing to do with each other, but the word is worth knowing either way.
How old is the name Midge?
Midge first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Midge alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 500 people named Midge are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Midge most popular?
Midge peaked in 1944, reaching #1698 nationally. See the whole 1944 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Midge
The midge is native vocabulary. Old English had mycg, the Germanic languages all have a version of it, and the word has been in continuous English use for well over a thousand years for the small biting flies that make a Scottish summer evening memorable. The mosquito, by contrast, is an import in every sense: Spanish and Portuguese sailors brought the word, and it is simply mosca, a fly, with a diminutive on the end, so a mosquito is a little fly and nothing more. English already had a word for small biting flies and borrowed another one anyway, which is what English does. Midge the name does not come from midge the insect. But a name that is also one of the oldest words in the language is carrying something, whether or not anybody chose it.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Midge has been used as a pet form of Margaret, of Marjorie and of Madge, and it has also been given on its own. Which of those a particular family intended is not recorded, and for names of this kind there often was no single intention.
Pronouncing Midge
MIJ
One syllable with a soft g. There is nothing in it that can be got wrong.
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
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 195331 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1698reached in 1944
- Change vs 1972
- −16.7%5 in 1974, from 6
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.
Midges among us
people named Midge 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
Midge 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
- One syllable, five letters, and never misspelled or mispronounced by anybody.
- It is warm and informal in a way that very few short names manage without sounding like a nickname.
- It has been in real American use for long enough to have a documented history of its own.
- It is also the name of a biting insect, and children will make that connection unaided.
- It reads as a nickname to many people, so a formal setting may keep asking what it is short for.
- It belongs to an older generation of American naming, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
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What they receive
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Midge
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Midges 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 Midge are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Midge in 2025?
- Midge is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Midge with classmates?
- Midge 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 Midge? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Midge and another name?
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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