July 20
Why this day? This is the day the name-day calendar sets aside for Saint Margaret of Antioch.
A young woman of the fourth century, in the region of Antioch of Pisidia, in Anatolia. Faced with brutal persecution, she refuses to renounce her convictions and faces death with unshakable firmness, becoming a symbol of resistance.
What stays with us: We learn here that it is possible to keep one's dignity intact even when everything collapses around us. This tenacity in the face of adversity remains a timeless lesson in courage.
Margarita is celebrated in the United States, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany on July 20.
Margarita is one of those names that simultaneously evokes jewels and gardens. It originates from the Greek margarités, meaning 'pearl', and came into use through Saint Margaret of Antioch, a 4th-century martyr whose dragon legend made her extremely popular throughout medieval Europe. By a roundabout route, it also gave its name to the flower with white petals, the one used for the classic game of "loves me, loves me not" by plucking the petals.
In Spain and Latin America, it was an ubiquitous name, present equally in the royal family (several Infantas named Margarita) and in the houses of rural areas. It evokes both classical elegance and rural freshness, a combination hard to surpass. Interestingly, Rita Hayworth was actually born Margarita Carmen Cansino.
Today, it is perceived as a warm, radiant, and timeless name: neither dated nor banal. Its diminutives – Marga, Rita – give it versatility for all age groups, from the schoolyard to signing a letter.
Those named Margarita usually carry this pearl of meaning within: something luminous and valuable that is not always displayed immediately. She is one of those warm-hearted and sociable people (with high loyalty and diplomatic skill) to whom one entrusts secrets, because they know how to listen without judging and return the wit at the right moment. Her humor is friendly, never hurtful, and she acts like oil in the group's relationships.
There lies within her a calming stability, inherited from the classical aura of the name: Margarita does not live off excitement; she prefers to build slowly and securely. Yet this calm should not be deceptive; like her patron saint, she emerged unscathed from the dragon, possessing remarkable inner resilience. When something truly matters to her, she endures the downpour with a calm smile that renders resistance futile.
Her sensitivity – this fiber of the delicate flower – makes her attentive to details and the moods of others, sometimes too much: she can absorb tensions that do not concern her. Ambition is present, moderated, rather aimed at doing things well and beautifully than competing. Like Margarita Salas in the laboratory or Margarita Xirgu on stage, she shines when she finds a ground where she can bring both rigor and tenderness.
She needs her own corner, this secret garden of the number seven, to recharge away from the noise. When respected, she shows moving loyalty; when pressured, she closes off with the elegance of one who needs no door slam. Essentially, Margarita combines the best of two worlds: the brilliance of the pearl and the freshness of the landscape, one who is at home with the same serenity at a gala and during a simple snack.
Playful portrait, for entertainment.
Margarita loves with the warm coldness of a pearl: beautiful, hardened by time, but preserving an intimate and deep light within. She is not one of those who crumble at the first wave of passion; her seduction is slow, geological. She approaches like a subtle, enveloping scent and waits for the other to approach with the patience of someone searching for a treasure under the sand. She is drawn to depth, to history, that rare quality of one who can keep secrets without losing their luster. What bores her, on the other hand, is intrusive superficiality, empty hecticness, the lack of emotional texture. In bed, she is sensitive but reserved; she demands a connection that transcends the physical to touch the essential. She does not seek to be the center of the show, but the jewel discovered only at the end of the night. Her love does not shout; it whispers. And whoever manages to hear this whisper discovers that the pearl is not to be taken away, but kept. It is a love of layers, of eloquent silence, and a beauty that does not age, but becomes deeper with the years and the tides experienced together.
It means 'pearl', from the Greek margarités. Later, it gave its name to the wildflower of the same name.
On July 20th, the feast day of Saint Margaret of Antioch, Virgin and Martyr of the 4th century.
From Greek, via the Latin margarita. It spread in Christianity through the veneration of Saint Margaret of Antioch.
Vice versa: First there was the name 'pearl', and the white flower adopted it later due to its delicate appearance.
Yes, many: Marga, Rita, Margara, or Magui are the most common.
Playful profile, for entertainment.
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