Maisie

Maisie meaning

Maisie is an international girl's name of Scottish origin (from Greek via Latin).

Scottish pet form of Margaret, "pearl"

Maisie began in Scotland as a pet form of Margaret, through Mairead, the Gaelic form of the name, and has long been used on its own. Margaret goes back through Late Latin Margarita to Greek margaritēs, "a pearl", which Strong's lists as a word of foreign origin; in the Gospels it is the "pearl of great price" that a merchant sells everything to buy. Name lists therefore give Maisie the meaning "pearl", which matches the root. Henry James used it for the child heroine of What Maisie Knew (1897). It is said MAY-zee. For Indian parents it carries the same sense as Moti or Mukta.

Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, G3135 · entry margaritēs · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Strong's G3135, margaritēs (Bible Hub) · Online Etymology Dictionary, Margaret

Famous namesakes

• Maisie Williams, English actress

Popularity abroad

• #233 United States, girls 2025 (up 23 from 256 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #43 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Maisie · Maisy · Maizie

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