Megumi
Feminine · “blessing”
A Japanese name can be written three ways, and choosing hiragana instead of characters is a decision to leave the meaning open. Written with a character, Megumi says blessing. Written in the syllabary, it says only the sound, and what it means is left to the family and the child.
How old is the name Megumi?
Megumi first appears in US birth records in 1973 — 52 years ago. The typical Megumi alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 600 people named Megumi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Megumi most popular?
Megumi peaked in 1991, reaching #4059 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 7,873 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Megumi
Japanese has three scripts running at once: characters borrowed from Chinese, and two syllabaries. Names are conventionally written in characters, and the characters do a great deal of the work — they carry the meaning, they signal formality, and they are what a person tells you when they introduce themselves in writing. Choosing hiragana instead is unusual and is read as soft, modern and slightly informal, and it has been a growing choice for girls' names since the middle of the last century. It also means the name resists the question this page keeps asking, because a name written phonetically has declined to have a fixed meaning, on purpose.
Meaning
blessing, grace
Megumi means a blessing or a kindness given, and is usually written with a single character carrying that sense. It is also often written in hiragana, the phonetic syllabary, which records the sound without committing to a character — a deliberate choice rather than an omission.
Pronouncing Megumi
meh-GOO-mee
Three syllables, said flat and even in Japanese rather than with English stress. Every vowel is short and pure. Americans usually put the weight on the second syllable, which is understood.
Nicknames for Megumi
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
- 1973
- Most girls named
- 199125 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4059reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- +16.7%7 in 2025, from 6
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.
Megumi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Megumi in Japanese — transliteration
Megumis among us
people named Megumi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Megumi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Carolena test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Megumi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Carolena climbed just as high around 1944, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Carolena's path sketches the road Megumi is walking now.
Megumi 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
Megumi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Megumi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Japanese meaning that is warm and concrete rather than abstract.
- Meg works as a short form and is a full name in English.
- Three open syllables with pure vowels, easy in Spanish and Italian as well.
- The script it is written in carries information an American record cannot hold.
- English speakers add stress where Japanese has none, which changes the shape of the word.
- It is close enough to Megan to be assumed a version of it, which it is not.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Megumi
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Megumis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Megumi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Megumi in 2025?
- Megumi ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Megumi?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Megumi — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Megumi with classmates?
- Megumi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Megumi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Megumi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Megumi and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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