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At a Glance: Name: Maisie – Meaning: pearl (via Mairead/Margaret) – Origin: Scottish (Gaelic pet form) – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: MAY-zee
Maisie is pronounced MAY-zee, and it started out in Scotland as a Gaelic pet form of Mairead, the Gaelic version of Margaret — which is where its meaning, 'pearl,' actually comes from. You may have seen Maisie described as meaning 'child of light,' but that pairing doesn't hold up; its documented roots trace only back to Margaret and 'pearl.'
Meaning & Origin of Maisie
Meaning: Pearl (via mairead/margaret).
Origin: Scottish (Gaelic pet form).
A common claim: Widely said to mean 'pearl', and sometimes also glossed as 'child of light' Actually: 'Child of light' has no etymological basis — Maisie derives from Mairead/Margaret ('pearl'), with no documented connection to 'light'.
Source: Wiktionary, Wikipedia.
How to Pronounce Maisie
Phonetic: MAY-zee IPA: /ˈmeɪzi/
Popularity of Maisie
U.S. baby name data on Maisie goes back to 1890, and in 2024 it hit its highest ranking on record, landing at #255 with 1,241 babies given the name that year.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data, 1890–2024.
Make Maisie Name Art
Free printable nursery art for Maisie, pre-loaded below — pick a layout, palette, and font, then download a print-ready PNG.
Names With a Similar Story
Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names we have no style data for, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.
FAQ
What does the name Maisie mean?
Pearl (via mairead/margaret). (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Maisie)
How do you pronounce Maisie?
Maisie is pronounced MAY-zee (IPA: /ˈmeɪzi/).
Is Maisie a popular name right now?
Maisie is at its highest recorded popularity right now, ranked #255 in 2024. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1890–2024.)
📊 How popular is Maisie? See the full popularity history, trend data, and ranking since 1880 with our free Baby Name Popularity Checker.
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