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Girl · German short form of a Greek name
Meta
Say it: MAY-tuh
Meaning
A German, Dutch and Scandinavian pet form of Margaret, from Greek margarites 'pearl'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Brought by German immigrants and used in the US in the late 1800s.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1890s
In the United States
- 6,201 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1890, about 1 in 1,700 girls
- 5 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- 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.