Head to head · Girls' names
Reagan vs Rowan
#248 vs #249 in 2025
Reagan is a whisker ahead (#248 vs #249 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Reagan is stepping back from its peak, Rowan is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Rowan has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Reagan leads 4 measures of 6; Rowan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1940s: Reagan —, Rowan #3738 — Rowan higher
- 1950s: Reagan #4837, Rowan — — Reagan higher
- 1960s: Reagan #3298, Rowan — — Reagan higher
- 1970s: Reagan #1738, Rowan #7984 — Reagan higher
- 1980s: Reagan #1694, Rowan #7478 — Reagan higher
- 1990s: Reagan #797, Rowan #2998 — Reagan higher
- 2000s: Reagan #177, Rowan #794 — Reagan higher
- 2010s: Reagan #106, Rowan #354 — Reagan higher
- 2020s: Reagan #175, Rowan #254 — Reagan higher
Reagan stood higher in 8 of 9 decades; Reagan has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Reagan | Rowan |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #3738 |
| 1950s | #4837 | — |
| 1960s | #3298 | — |
| 1970s | #1738 | #7984 |
| 1980s | #1694 | #7478 |
| 1990s | #797 | #2998 |
| 2000s | #177 | #794 |
| 2010s | #106 | #354 |
| 2020s | #175 | #254 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Reagan
descendant of Riagán — a name linked to Irish rí, "king"
The surname is straightforwardly "descendant of Riagán." What Riagán itself meant is where scholars part ways: one reading connects it to rí, "king," giving the popular gloss "little king"; another traces it to an Irish root for "impulsive" or "furious." Neither has won, and the surname's history is solid either way.
Riagán → Ó Riagáin → O'Regan → Regan → Reagan
How it traveled
Reagan is the anglicized spelling of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin, borne by families in medieval Ireland and spelled a dozen different ways once English clerks got hold of it — Regan, O'Regan, Ragan, Reagan. Irish emigration carried all those spellings to the United States, where Reagan became familiar as a family name long before anyone used it in front of one.
Rowan
'little red one' (Irish), or the rowan tree
Two genuine sources sit under one spelling. The Irish personal name Ruadhán, and the surname Ó Ruadháin that grew from it, come from ruadh, 'red' — a nickname for red hair or a ruddy face. Separately, rowan is the northern English and Scots word for the mountain ash, a tree word of Norse ancestry. Most modern American parents are choosing the tree; the older written record leans Irish. Neither reading cancels the other.
Ruadhán → Ó Ruadháin → Rowan
How it traveled
Ruadhán was a working Irish name long before it was a nature name: Saint Ruadhán of Lorrha, an abbot of the sixth century, is counted among the Twelve Apostles of Ireland, and his name passed into the surname Ó Ruadháin, anglicized as Rowan. The tree word traveled a different road — from Old Norse into the Scots and northern English speech of people who planted mountain ash by the door, a protective custom recorded in Scottish and Irish folk practice.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Reagan
RAY-gən
RAY-gən is the usual American pronunciation. REE-gən is also heard, and is closer to how the surname is often said in Ireland — worth deciding early, because both are defensible and people will guess.
- Rae — The most-used short form, and a given name in its own right for girls.
- Ray — The same sound with the older spelling; stands alone as a masculine given name.
- Reags — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings rather than family elders.
- Reggie — Occasional and playful; more commonly attaches to Reginald or Regina.
Rowan
ROH-ən
Stress on the first syllable, which rhymes with 'go'. In parts of Britain the tree itself is said ROW-ən, with the vowel of 'cow', so you may occasionally hear that pronunciation for the name too — in the United States the ROH-ən version is standard and rarely questioned.
- Ro — The most common short form, used informally at home and among friends; works the same for a boy or a girl.
- Rowe — Informal clip that keeps the full vowel; also exists independently as an English surname.
- Roo — A family-and-toddler nickname more than a school one; tends to fall away as a child gets older.
Who has carried each name
Reagan
No documented entry for Reagan yet.
Rowan
Rowan Blanchard (b. 2001) — Girl Meets World star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Reagan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsReagan is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowReagan is stepping back from its peak
Choose Rowan if you want…
- a name on the way upup 6 places on the charts in five years
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 66% for Reagan
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Reagan
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to most Americans from the surname, so it is rarely questioned in writing.
- Rae and Ray are established short forms, both of which work on their own as names.
- A surname-name, so it sits comfortably on a boy or a girl without needing explanation.
To consider
- In the United States the surname belongs first to a twentieth-century president, and plenty of people hold firm views about that era in either direction. Most will not comment; some will.
- Raegan, Regan and Ragan all circulate, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often, and expect the occasional REE-gən from someone reading it cold.
- The variant spelling Regan belongs to one of King Lear's ruthless daughters and to the possessed child in The Exorcist. Those associations follow that spelling more than this one, but a well-read stranger may make the leap.
Rowan
Strengths
- Phonetically transparent: nearly everyone reads ROH-ən correctly on first sight, with no silent letters to explain.
- Charts in England and Wales, Scotland and Canada as well as the United States, so it crosses English-speaking borders without adjustment.
- A documented history in two directions — an Irish saint's name and a northern tree word — giving a family more than one true story to tell.
To consider
- Rowen, Rowyn and Rowin all exist as alternate spellings, and Rohan is a separate name that sounds close. Expect to spell it out fairly often, even though the pronunciation itself gives no trouble.
- Most Rowans are boys, but a real minority are girls — so a girl Rowan will sometimes be assumed male on a class list or a form, and a boy Rowan will occasionally meet someone who has known only girls with the name.
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now will likely meet more Rowans among their own age group than the current numbers suggest, even if none of them ends up in the same classroom.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Reagan
66%chance Reagan feels dated by 2040
Reagan is coming down from a big peak (#97 in 2012). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Rowan
40%chance Rowan feels dated by 2040
Rowan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Reagan and Rowan in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Reagan and Rowan?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Reagan and Rowan — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Reagan or Rowan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Reagan or Rowan?
- Reagan, in 2025: Reagan ranked #248 with 1,244 babies; Rowan ranked #249 with 1,240 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Reagan or Rowan?
- Rowan. Over the last five years Reagan moved down 134 places; Rowan moved up 6 places.
- Which is the older name, Reagan or Rowan?
- Reagan entered the US charts in 1956; Rowan entered the US charts in 1942. On the American record, Rowan is the older name.
- How many people are named Reagan and Rowan?
- About 65,000 people named Reagan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,000 people named Rowan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Reagans or Rowans in the classroom?
- Reagan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rowan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Reagan, Rowan and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap