Regan
Feminine · “little king”
Regan is given to both — 16,307 girls and 3,746 boys since 1880. See Regan as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Regan is the Irish Ó Riagáin — descendant of the little king — and Shakespeare gave the name to one of Lear's ungrateful daughters.
How old is the name Regan?
Regan first appears in US birth records in 1946 — 79 years ago. The typical Regan alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 16,000 people named Regan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Regan most popular?
Regan peaked in 2001, reaching #391 nationally. Today it ranks #2276, 1,885 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ri to Regan
The story of Regan
Ó Riagáin was a sept of Meath descended, tradition says, from a nephew of Brian Boru. Shakespeare's Regan is the middle daughter in Lear, and a 1973 horror film gave the name to a possessed child. It appears in American records for both sexes in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
little king; impulsive
From the Irish Ó Riagáin, generally read from ri, 'king', with a diminutive, or from riagán, 'impulsive'. Shakespeare took Regan from Holinshed's chronicle of Lear. Both Irish readings are attributed and neither is fully settled.
How the name formed
- ri
- Ó Riagáin
- Regan
Related forms: Ó Riagáin · Reagan · Reagen
Pronouncing Regan
REE-gun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some say RAY-gun following the presidential surname.
Nicknames for Regan
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
- 1946
- Most girls named
- 2001747 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #391reached in 2001
- Change vs 2023
- +3.9%80 in 2025, from 77
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.
Regan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ó Riagáin in Irish — related form
- Reagan in English — spelling variant
- Reagen in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Ohio, Texas.
Regans among us
people named Regan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 20,091 born in 2025 was named Regan
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 Dorris test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Regan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Dorris climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Dorris's path sketches the road Regan is walking now.
Regan 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
Where Regan is headed
Regan is easing off slowly — about 24% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Regan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Regan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The little-king meaning is strong where it holds.
- A sept descended from Brian Boru's family is a genuinely good ancestry.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk once heard.
- Shakespeare's Regan and a 1973 horror film are both unflattering associations.
- The first vowel splits between REE and RAY.
- Reagan is the commoner spelling in America.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Regan
Feminine · #2276 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Regans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 16,000 people named Regan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Regan in 2025?
- Regan ranks #2276 among US girl names in 2025, with 80 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Regan?
- About 1 in every 20,091 US girls born in 2025 was named Regan — 80 in all.
- Will my child share the name Regan with classmates?
- Regan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Regan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Johana#2276 · Haizley#2276 · Nyah#2276 · Leonie#2276 · Lavinia#2276 · Analise#2276 · Ollie#2276 · Sayla#2276
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Regan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Regan and another name?
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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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