girl's name
Meagan
MEG-un
- Origin Welsh
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Births on record 45,226
Northern Ireland
#403
2005 births
Meagan means pearl at four removes — Welsh Megan shortens Marged, which is Margaret, which is the Greek margarites, which is probably a loan from further east than Greece. The Greek word itself appears to be a loan from further east.
- Meagan is a name of Welsh origin.
- Peaked in 1990, when 2,537 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- First appears in US birth records in 1954.
Meagan over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2024, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 22 |
| 1960s | 208 |
| 1970s | 2,206 |
| 1980s | 16,303 |
| 1990s | 17,124 |
| 2000s | 4,836 |
| 2010s | 850 |
| 2020s (to 2024) | 70 |
What Meagan means
Meagan means a pearl. The Greek names the gem, and the word itself appears to have been borrowed from an eastern language rather than formed in Greek.
Where Meagan comes from
Meagan respells Megan, the Welsh short form of Marged — the Welsh Margaret, from the Greek margarites, a pearl. That word is probably not Greek in origin but borrowed, with Persian and Sanskrit both proposed, arriving with the gem along the trade routes. Gretchen, elsewhere on this site, is the German diminutive of the same name, so the two are the same word by very different roads.
Meagan in use
Meagan peaked in the United States in 1990, when 2,537 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in none of the six markets we track in the most recent year, despite 41,999 lifetime births. England and Wales ran its own peak of 20 births in 2001 and Ireland 10 in 1996, and our records carry the name from 1954.
How popular is Meagan?
In 2024, Meagan was given to 11 babies in the United States. It was given to fewer than five babies in the most recent year of published US data.
Where Meagan is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Meagan
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Meagan also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Meagan over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Meagan in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Meagan
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Meagan — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Meagan
What does the name Meagan mean?
A pearl — the Greek margarites, through the Welsh Megan.
Is margarites really Greek?
Probably borrowed, with Persian and Sanskrit both proposed.
Is Gretchen related?
Yes — the German diminutive of the same name.
How popular is Meagan?
It charts in none of our six markets now, down from a 1990 peak of 2,537 births.
Is Meagan a girl's or a boy's name?
Meagan is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.