Meegan
Feminine · “pearl”
Meegan settles a vowel that the Welsh spelling leaves open. Megan is said with a short e by the Welsh and by most of Britain, and with a long one by a good many Americans who have only seen it written; the doubled letter here picks one and closes the argument.
How old is the name Meegan?
Meegan first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Meegan alive today was born around 1977, making them about 48 years old. About 900 people named Meegan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Meegan most popular?
Meegan peaked in 1975, reaching #1604 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From a Greek word for a pearl gives Margaret to Meegan
Our story of Meegan
A borrowed name arrives without its pronunciation attached, and the receiving language has to guess. Welsh spelling is regular and its speakers know exactly what the letters say; English spelling is not, and an English reader meeting a Welsh name has no way of knowing whether the vowel is long or short. Both readings then establish themselves, families split, and eventually somebody writes down the version they use — which is what this spelling is. It is not a mistake about Welsh. It is a statement about English.
Meaning
pearl, at several removes
Megan is a Welsh pet form of Margaret, which came into Europe from a Greek word for a pearl. This spelling makes the first vowel long and unmistakable, which is a genuine choice rather than an error — the name has been said both ways in America for a century and neither camp is going to give in.
How the name formed
- a Greek word for a pearl gives Margaret
- Welsh produces the pet form Megan
- English readers split over the first vowel
- Meegan settles it with a doubled letter
- peaks in the middle 1970s
Related forms: Megan · Meagan
Pronouncing Meegan
MEE-gun
Two syllables, stress at the front, with a long first vowel. The Welsh name has a short one, which is the whole disagreement this spelling is taking a side in.
Nicknames for Meegan
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 197561 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1604reached in 1975
- Change vs 2011
- 0.0%5 in 2012, from 5
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.
Meegan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Megan in Welsh — spelling variant
- Meagan in English — spelling variant
Meegans among us
people named Meegan 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
Meegan 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
- The spelling settles a pronunciation the standard version leaves open.
- Meg is available and is being rediscovered.
- It is read correctly at sight by anybody.
- Megan is far commoner and the doubled letter will be dropped.
- The Welsh pronunciation is the short one, which this spelling rules out.
- It is closely dated to the 1970s and 1980s.
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What they receive
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Meegan
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Meegans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Meegan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Meegan in 2025?
- Meegan is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Meegan with classmates?
- Meegan 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 Meegan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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