Peggy
Peggy was the 8740th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 12 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 31st; the most babies were born in 1958 (10,071). Over the last ten years it has moved up 88 places. More babies were named Peggy in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning pet form of Margaret · English, Greek
Say it PEG-ee /ˈpɛɡi/
- Rank in 2025
- #8,740 girls, down 2,716 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 12girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 195810,071 babies
- Total since 1880
- 293,563babies recorded
What does the name Peggy mean?
Peggy is a pet form of Margaret, an alteration of Maggie or Meggy with the rhyming change from M to P that also gave Polly from Molly, as Wiktionary notes. Margaret comes from Greek margaritēs 'pearl'. Peggy was common in 18th-century England and America and very popular in the US in the 1920s and 1930s.
μαργαρίτης (margaritēs) (Ancient Greek, “pearl”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Margaret, Peg, Maggie, Meg.
See also: Greek names, names that mean jewel.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Peggy', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Margaret', DMNES (Durham University)
Nicknames for Peggy
The usual nicknames for Peggy are Peg.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peg | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Peggys go by each one.
Peggy popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 798 since 1924.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,740 | 12 |
| 2020 | #6,024 | 20 |
| 2010 | #7,147 | 18 |
| 2000 | #2,663 | 56 |
| 1990 | #1,007 | 181 |
| 1980 | #440 | 487 |
| 1970 | #174 | 1,900 |
| 1960 | #69 | 6,428 |
| 1950 | #41 | 8,532 |
| 1940 | #37 | 6,128 |
| 1930 | #67 | 4,084 |
| 1920 | #219 | 875 |
| 1910 | #272 | 204 |
| 1900 | #380 | 77 |
| 1890 | #557 | 23 |
| 1880 | #487 | 13 |
How popular is Peggy, counting every spelling?
Peggy has no other common spelling that sounds the same.
How many kids will share the name Peggy?
12 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Peggy (0.00 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Peggy born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 705 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Peggy.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Peggy?
About 166,900 people born in the US named Peggy are alive today, with a median age of 72; half are between 66 and 79. That makes Peggy a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Peggy: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Peggy, they share its era and feel.
Peggy is also a nickname for Margaret.
Questions about the name Peggy
What does Peggy mean?
Peggy means “pet form of Margaret” (English, Greek origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Peggy?
Peggy was the 8740th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 12 babies. Its best year was 1937, when it ranked 31st; the most babies were born in 1958 (10,071). Over the last ten years it has moved up 88 places. More babies were named Peggy in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Peggy a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Peggy in the US.