How to say it
MAI · sie
/ˈmeɪ.zi/
Feminine
Maisie
Pearl
What it means
Scottish diminutive of Margaret (Greek 'pearl'). Henry James's What Maisie Knew (1897) is the older literary anchor; Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones's Arya Stark) is the modern English-language one.
Maisie is a Scottish diminutive of Margaret (which means 'pearl,' from Greek margaritēs). The Maisie spelling is the Scots form; Mazie and Maizie are alternates. Henry James's 1897 novel What Maisie Knew gave the name 19th-century literary anchor. Maisie Williams (born 1997, the British actress who played Arya Stark in Game of Thrones 2011-2019) gave the name its decisive 21st-century English-language anchor — naming surged from her breakout. It entered the US top 500 in 2018. Single short forms aren't common — Maisie is already a short.
Popularity over time
peaked at #233 in 2025, currently #233 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark in Game of Thrones) is the dominant English-language anchor for parents naming today.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Maisie Williams English actress, Arya Stark in Game of Thrones (2011-2019)
Spelling variants
- Maizie
- Mazie
Names with the same feeling
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By style