Magen
Feminine · “pearl”
Magen is a Welsh name in one language and a Hebrew word in another. Written this way it is a respelling of Megan; read as Hebrew it is the word for a shield, the one in the name of the six-pointed star. The two have never met before landing on this page.
How old is the name Magen?
Magen first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Magen alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 3,300 people named Magen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Magen most popular?
Magen peaked in 1985, reaching #757 nationally. See the whole 1985 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Marged to Magen
The story of Magen
The Hebrew word turns up in the name of the Star of David, which in Hebrew is the shield of David rather than the star, and in the name of Israel's ambulance service, the Red Shield. It is an ordinary noun with a long religious history and it is not, in Hebrew, a personal name. The Welsh name is a familiar form of Marged, itself the Welsh Margaret, and it left Wales in the twentieth century and became enormously popular in America — after which American spelling did its usual work, producing Meghan, Meagan, Megann and Magen. This spelling changes the stressed vowel, which most of the others do not.
Meaningscholars disagree
pearl
As a respelling of the Welsh name it descends from Margaret and carries the pearl. Read as the Hebrew word it means a shield. Which applies depends on the family, and for most American bearers it is the first.
How the name formed
- Marged
- Megan
- Magen
Related forms: Megan · Magen
Pronouncing Magen
MAY-gun
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Read as Welsh it would be MEG-un with a short e, and read as Hebrew it is mah-GEN with the weight at the back.
Nicknames for Magen
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
- 1970
- Most girls named
- 1985226 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #757reached in 1985
- Change vs 2011
- −28.6%5 in 2013, from 7
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.
Magen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Megan in Welsh — spelling variant
- Magen in Hebrew — transliteration
Magens among us
people named Magen 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
Magen 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
- Every sound in it is easy in English and the name is read at sight.
- Meg is one of the most established short forms in the language.
- It is genuinely uncommon while the name behind it is very familiar.
- Megan is the standard spelling and will be written instead.
- The a suggests a long vowel that the Welsh name does not have, so the name is said two ways.
- Hebrew speakers will read it as an ordinary noun rather than a name.
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Magen
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Magens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,300 people named Magen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Magen in 2025?
- Magen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Magen with classmates?
- Magen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Magen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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