French form of Margaret, from Greek 'margarites' meaning 'pearl.' Also the French word for daisy.
Marguerite is the French form of Margaret, both descending from the ancient Greek "margaritēs" meaning pearl — a word that came to the Greeks from Persian and Sanskrit, tracing the gem's trade routes westward through centuries of commerce. It arrived in medieval Europe through the cult of Saint Margaret of Antioch, a martyred virgin whose legend spread across Christendom and made Margaret one of the dominant names of the Middle Ages.
The French flowering — Marguerite — added aristocratic elegance, becoming associated with queens and noblewomen, most notably Marguerite de Navarre, the 16th-century French Renaissance author whose Heptaméron placed her among the great humanist writers of her era. Marguerite is also the French word for the common daisy, a linguistic doubling that gives the name a quality rare among classical names — it is simultaneously jewel and wildflower, court and meadow. The 20th century gave it Nobel laureate Marguerite Yourcenar, the first woman elected to the Académie française, and Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte, whose name shares the same root.
In English-speaking countries, Margaret and its diminutives (Maggie, Peggy, Meg) remained common through the mid-20th century before softening in use; Marguerite, however, retained a Gallic polish that kept it feeling timeless rather than dated. Today it reads as quietly distinguished — the name of someone with a library and good taste in wine.