Degan
Masculine
Degan can be read two ways and the records will not say which was meant. It is either the De- prefix on a stem, or Deegan, an Irish surname, spelled short, and the parents' intention is not recoverable.
How old is the name Degan?
Degan first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Degan alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 500 people named Degan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Degan most popular?
Degan peaked in 2008, reaching #2632 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,063 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Degan
Ambiguity of parsing is a standing feature of modern American names and it is under-acknowledged. A name like this has two legitimate analyzes, one that treats the opening as a productive prefix and one that treats the whole as a borrowed surname, and they imply different histories, different meanings and different families. Nothing in the record distinguishes them: birth certificates do not record intentions, and the same spelling appears in households with entirely different reasons for choosing it. Reference works generally pick one reading and present it as fact. The better practice is to name both, say why neither can be confirmed, and let the reader decide which one they are carrying, which is a decision only the family can make anyway.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Degan is either an American formation from the De- prefix and a -gan ending, or a short spelling of Deegan, from Irish O Duibhginn, containing dubh, dark. Both readings are plausible and neither is documented. The peak is 2008.
Pronouncing Degan
DEE-gun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some say duh-GAN, following the prefix reading; both occur.
Nicknames for Degan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1999
- Most boys named
- 200847 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2632reached in 2008
- Change vs 2023
- −40.0%6 in 2025, from 10
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Degan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Deegan in English — related form
- Daegan in English — related form
Degans among us
people named Degan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Degan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Degan
- #10695
- Degan on the 2025 chart
- #848
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Degan went to 6 boys in 2025, but Deegan is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 80, which makes it the 848th most-given boys’ name of the year — 9,847 places above the chart.
- Deegan74
- Degan6
About 1 boy in 21,351 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 284,679 for Degan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Derward test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Degan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Derward climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Derward's path sketches the road Degan is walking now.
Degan 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Degan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Degan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and five letters, spelled as heard.
- It fits both the Irish-surname and the coinage patterns.
- Dee works as a short form.
- Two stress patterns are in use.
- Deegan is the standard spelling of the surname.
- The 2008 peak dates it closely.
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Degan
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Degans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Degan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Degan?
- Degan is one of 2 recorded spellings. Deegan is the more common one — 74 births in 2025 against 6 for Degan.
- How popular is the name Degan in 2025?
- Degan ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Degan?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Degan — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Degan with classmates?
- Degan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Degan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Degan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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