Karrigan
Feminine
Karrigan is a K-spelling of the Irish surnames Carrigan and Kerrigan, three syllables with a firm start. Its ending, -gan, is the Irish diminutive that also closes Flanagan, Madigan and Lanigan.
How old is the name Karrigan?
Karrigan first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Karrigan alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 500 people named Karrigan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Karrigan most popular?
Karrigan peaked in 1996, reaching #2796 nationally. See the whole 1996 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Karrigan
Irish surnames often end in a small word of affection. The suffix -án and its longer cousin -agán turn a name into its little version, and English wrote the result as -an and -gan: Flanagan, Madigan, Lanigan, Corrigan. Karrigan keeps that ending and trades the Irish C for an English K, a letter Irish spelling does not use. What remains is a three-beat name with a hard start and a soft finish, carrying a diminutive that few people outside Ireland hear as one.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Karrigan has no documented meaning of its own. Carrigan and Kerrigan are anglicized Irish surnames, both ending in the diminutive -agán; the first part of each is disputed, and the record does not say which surname a given Karrigan started from.
Pronouncing Karrigan
KAIR-ih-gun
Said like Carrigan or Kerrigan: KAIR-ih-gun in most American speech, KARR-ih-gun in accents that keep the vowels of marry and merry apart.
Nicknames for Karrigan
Limited
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
- 1995
- Most girls named
- 199643 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2796reached in 1996
- Change vs 2023
- −11.1%8 in 2024, from 9
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.
Karrigans among us
people named Karrigan are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Karrigan sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Rests on real Irish surnames with a long record.
- Three clear syllables with a strong first beat.
- Takes Kari as a ready short form.
- People will write Carrigan, Kerrigan or Corrigan by ear; the K and the double r need spelling out.
- It has no documented meaning of its own, and the surnames behind it have disputed ones.
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Karrigan
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Karrigans 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 Karrigan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Karrigan in 2025?
- Karrigan is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Karrigan with classmates?
- Karrigan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Karrigan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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