Megan

What Megan means

Diminutive of Margaret, meaning “pearl”

diminutive of the female given name Margaret || From the name of 3rd century Saint Margaret the Virgin, from Middle English Margaret, from Old French Margaret (French Marguerite), from Latin Margarita, from Ancient Greek μαργαρίτης (margarítēs, “pearl”), ultimately from an Indo-Iranian s

Source: Wiktionary, “Megan” (revision 94541584) and “Margaret” (revision 94541482), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Megan?

US: Falling: down from #385 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #76 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1985, when 20,013 girls got the name (#10 that year). First in the US records in 1922.

How common

• About 1 in 5,340 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 5,756 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in FL (0.53 per 1,000 girls), UT (0.47 per 1,000 girls), NJ (0.34 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Megan is #887 in the US and #816 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Megan were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Megan

Girls

• Jennifer#586Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1972, with 63,600 babies; 501 in 2025
• Bridget#724Editor’s note Down from #534 in 2015 to #724 in 2025 in the US
• Briana#661Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1994, with 5,000 babies; 431 in 2025
• Morgan#312Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #121 in 2015, #312 in 2025
• Jenna#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 6,436 babies; 418 in 2025
• Sabrina#321Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1997, with 5,816 babies; 956 in 2025

For a brother

• Brian#339Same root as Brendan, meaning “prince, king”^*
• Trevor#679Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1998, with 6,598 babies; 400 in 2025
• Shawn#681“God is gracious”^*
• Shane#635“God is gracious”^*
• Sean#489“God is gracious”^*
• Ryan#99Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 29,905 babies; 3,532 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Megan’s. Rank is US 2025.