Reaghan
Feminine · “Irish O Riagain”
Regan is one of Lear's daughters, and Shakespeare took her from Geoffrey of Monmouth, who made her up. Geoffrey's History of the Kings of Britain, written around 1136, invented a great deal of what Europe believed about British history for the next five hundred years, including most of Arthur.
How old is the name Reaghan?
Reaghan first appears in US birth records in 1991 — 34 years ago. The typical Reaghan alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,100 people named Reaghan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Reaghan most popular?
Reaghan peaked in 2008, reaching #2609 nationally. Today it ranks #8860, 6,251 places below that high. See the whole 2008 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Riagan to Reaghan
The story of Reaghan
Geoffrey of Monmouth claimed to be translating an ancient book in the British tongue that nobody else ever saw. His History gives Britain a continuous line of kings from Brutus, a Trojan refugee, down to the seventh century, and it supplies Lear and his three daughters, Cymbeline, Old King Cole, Merlin and a fully developed Arthur with a court, a sword and a continental empire. Almost none of it is history. Almost all of it was believed: the book was copied more than two hundred times, translated across Europe, and treated as a source by chroniclers for four centuries. Shakespeare took Lear and Cymbeline from it by way of later versions. So a twelfth-century Welsh cleric's invention became the standard account of the British past, and one of his invented princesses is now a name given to American children.
Meaningscholars disagree
Irish O Riagain, descendant of Riagan
The Irish surname O Riagain, anglicized Regan and Reagan, is built on a personal name Riagan whose meaning is not established; a connection to ri, a king, is often proposed and is not secure. Separately, Regan is one of King Lear's daughters, a character Shakespeare took from Geoffrey of Monmouth. Reaghan is a modern American respelling. It peaks in 2008.
How the name formed
- Riagan
- Regan
- Reaghan
Related forms: Regan · Reagan · O Riagain
Pronouncing Reaghan
RAY-gun
Two syllables, stress on the first. REE-gun is also current, and the two readings split roughly along the Reagan and Regan spellings. The gh in this variant is silent.
Nicknames for Reaghan
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
- 1991
- Most girls named
- 200871 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2609reached in 2008
- Change vs 2024
- +37.5%11 in 2025, from 8
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.
Reaghan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Regan in English — spelling variant
- Reagan in English — spelling variant
- O Riagain in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio.
Reaghans among us
people named Reaghan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 146,115 born in 2025 was named Reaghan
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 Vanessia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Reaghan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vanessia climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vanessia's path sketches the road Reaghan is walking now.
Reaghan 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
Reaghan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Reaghan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Irish surname behind it is documented.
- It works for either sex.
- The literary history is substantial.
- Two pronunciations circulate and the spelling does not settle them.
- Reagan and Regan are both far more common.
- The Shakespearean character is one of the villains.
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What they receive
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Reaghan
Feminine · #8860 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Reaghans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Reaghan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Reaghan in 2025?
- Reaghan ranks #8860 among US girl names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Reaghan?
- About 1 in every 146,115 US girls born in 2025 was named Reaghan — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Reaghan with classmates?
- Reaghan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Reaghan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lida#8860 · Lauretta#8860 · Dot#8860 · Bonita#8860 · Benita#8860 · Trixie#8860 · Adna#8860 · Sue#8860
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Reaghan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Reaghan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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