Małgorzata
Around 575,000 living Poles carry it, one of the ten most common women's names in the country, yet hardly any newborns get it now. At root it's Greek, from the word for "pearl".
Małgorzata Pronunciation
Małgorzata is pronounced mahw-go-ZHAH-tah (/mawgɔˈʐata/).
What Małgorzata means
Where Małgorzata comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Małgorzata comes from the Greek margaritēs, meaning pearl. Polish preserved the sense exactly: perła. The word passed through Latin as Margarita, then Polish speakers reshaped it, softening the sounds until it settled into the name written on birth records today.
The pearl was valued across the ancient Mediterranean, and the name held that meaning steadily as it moved north. A variant, Margaryta, stays closer to the Greek and Latin in sound. Both point back to the same shell.
Read a Polish class register and you will likely find the name shortened. Teachers call for Gosia, Małgosia, or Gośka, and the child answers to all of them. Only the urząd and the imieniny keep the full Małgorzata in daily use. The pearl stays inside it, perła in Polish.
How many people are named Małgorzata
1 in 39 women in Poland is named Małgorzata. 574,660 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #6 among female names.
Małgorzata's popularity over time
261 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #158 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #6 name among living women, even as it slips to #158 among newborns.
Where Małgorzata is most popular
Małgorzata is most popular in Podlaskie, 30% above the national average (140 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Pomeranian (+30%) and Silesian (+30%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 41% and 27% below average respectively.
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Podlaskie140 girls born+30%
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Pomeranian313 girls born+30%
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Silesian483 girls born+30%
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Lesser Poland401 girls born+8%
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Lower Silesian269 girls born+5%
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Warmian-Masurian123 girls born+5%
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Masovian589 girls born+2%
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Lublin155 girls born−8%
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Łódź190 girls born−8%
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Świętokrzyskie83 girls born−9%
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Opole67 girls born−11%
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Lubusz71 girls born−13%
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West Pomeranian118 girls born−15%
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Greater Poland289 girls born−18%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian131 girls born−27%
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Subcarpathian116 girls born−41%
Małgorzata as a middle name
Małgorzata is a first name for 574,660 women in Poland and a middle name for another 332,804, a 63/37 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 7th, between Teresa (354,803) and Elżbieta (312,408).
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5
372,483Ewa
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6
354,803Teresa
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7332,804Małgorzata
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8
312,408Elżbieta
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9
301,969Magdalena