Margery

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Girl · Greek, through Latin and Old French

Margery

Say it: MAR-jer-ee

Try it with your surname

Meaning

A medieval English form of Margaret, through Old French Margerie; ultimately from Greek margaritēs 'pearl'.

Certainscholars agree on this meaning.

Very common in late medieval England, and later continued mainly as the spelling Marjorie.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1920s

In the United States

020406018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1921per 100,000 babies of that sex
  • 15,775 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1921, about 1 in 2,200 girls
  • 9 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. The Renaissance1400 to 1600

Used by

EnglishScottish

The family of the name

Other spellings: Marjorie, Marjory, Margerie

FrenchMarguerite
Scottish GaelicMarsaili

Famous bearers

  • Margery Kempe, author of The Book of Margery Kempe

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
  • Well-known works of literature
  • Parish baptism registers
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.