Mairead

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Mairead, also spelt Maighread,{{cite web | last=Campbell | first=Mike | title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Maighread | website=Behind the Name | date=21 January 2022 | url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/maighread | access-date=26 January 2023}} is a feminine given name, the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Margaret.{{cite book | last1=Hanks | first1=Patrick | last2=Hodges | first2=Flavia | last3=Hardcastle | first3=Kate | title=A Dictionary of First Names | publisher=OUP Oxford | series=The Oxford Reference Collection | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-157854-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bv9QEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT578 | access-date=26 January 2023 | page=578}} The Irish form is spelt Mairéad, Máiréad, Maighréad, or Máighréad.{{Cite web |title=MAIGHRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames |url=https://www.libraryireland.com/names/women/maighread-margaret.php |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.libraryireland.com}} Maisie is the pet form of Mairead.

Margaret is derived via French ({{lang|fr|Marguerite}}) and Latin ({{lang|la|Margarita}}) from {{langx|grc|μαργαρίτης}} ({{Transliteration|grc|margarítēs}}) meaning "pearl".{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Margaret |volume=17 |page=700}} The Greek is borrowed from Indo-Iranian languages (Persian).George F. Kunz and Charles H. Stevenson, The Book of the Pearl: The History, Art, Science and Industry of the Queen of Gems (London and New York: MacMillan & Co., 1908), p. 305.{{cite encyclopedia|title=Persian Loanwords and Names in Greek|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|last=Schmitt|first=Rüdiger|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/greece-xii|access-date=2022-03-31}}

Notable people with the name include:

• Mairead Buicke (born 1981), Irish operatic soprano also active in concert and recital work
• Mairéad Byrne (born 1957), Irish poet
• Mairéad Carlin (born 1988), Irish singer
• Mairead Curran (born 1968), Australian-born children's entertainer, actress and voiceover artist
• Mairéad Farrell (1957–1988), Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA)
• Mairéad Farrell, Irish Sinn Féin politician
• Mairéad Graham, camogie player with St Anne’s Dunhill, winner of an All Ireland Junior Club championship Medal and the winner of a Club Player of the Year award later the same year
• Mairead inghean Eachainn, spouse of Alexander Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan and mother of Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar
• Mairead Maguire (born 1944), Irish peace activist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
• Mairéad McAtamney (born 1944), retired Irish sportsperson
• Mairead McGuinness (born 1959), Irish EU Commissioner
• Mairead McKinley, award-winning Irish actress
• Mairead Nash of Queens of Noize, English indie/disco or Wonky pop DJ duo based in London
• Maighréad Ní Dhomhnaill (born 1955), Irish traditional singer from Kells, County Meath
• Máiréad Ní Ghráda (1896–1971), Irish poet, playwright, and broadcaster born in Kilmaley, County Clare
• Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh (born 1962), Irish fiddler and the lead vocalist for the Irish traditional band Altan
• Máiréad Nesbitt (born 1979), classical and Celtic music performer, most notably as a violinist
• Mairead Ronan (nee Farrell), Irish radio presenter and television personality