Kerrigan
Of Irish origin, a surname that may mean "descendant of Ciarán".
Name Census estimates that about 2,499 living Americans carry the first name Kerrigan. It is a predominantly female name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Kerrigan today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kerrigan births was 2013 (119 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kerrigan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Kerrigan is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 105 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 137,157 Americans
Peak year
2013
119 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2020 SSA rank
#4,069
Tracked since 1972
Gender
Gender distribution for Kerrigan
Kerrigan leans heavily female at 95.9% of total registrations, but 105 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kerrigan as a male name
- Ranked #13,147 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1996 (9 births)
Kerrigan as a female name
- Ranked #4,069 in 2024
- 36 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (118 births)
Popularity
Kerrigan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kerrigan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 933 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kerrigan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Kerrigan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kerrigans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Ohio, Texas, Indiana recorded the most babies named Kerrigan, while Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kerrigan
The given name Kerrigan has its origins in the Gaelic language, derived from the Irish surname Ó Ciarghráin, which means "descendant of Ciarghráin." The name Ciarghráin itself is a combination of the Gaelic elements "ciar," meaning "black" or "dark," and "grán," meaning "grain" or "seed."
This name is believed to have originated in Ireland, specifically in the regions of County Mayo and County Sligo, where it was first recorded as a surname in the 12th century. The earliest documented use of Kerrigan as a given name dates back to the 16th century.
In Irish mythology, there are references to a figure named Ciarán of Saigir, who was a prominent saint and one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland in the 5th century. While not directly related to the name Kerrigan, this association with an important religious figure may have contributed to the name's popularity in Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Kerrigan was Kerrigan O'Reilly, an Irish chieftain who lived in the 16th century and played a significant role in the Irish Confederate Wars of the 1640s.
Other notable individuals with the name Kerrigan throughout history include:
1. John Kerrigan (1768-1847), an Irish-American soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
2. Kathleen Kerrigan (1886-1975), an Irish actress and theater manager who co-founded the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
3. Joseph Kerrigan (1904-1973), an American Catholic bishop who served as the Bishop of Santa Rosa, California, from 1962 to 1973.
4. Marcia Kerrigan (1928-2008), an American actress known for her roles in television shows such as "The Untouchables" and "Perry Mason."
5. John Kerrigan (born 1952), an English literary critic and academic who has written extensively on Shakespeare and Renaissance literature.
While the name Kerrigan has been more commonly used in Ireland and among Irish communities around the world, it has also gained popularity in other English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States and Australia, where it is often associated with Irish heritage and culture.
People
Kerrigan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kerrigan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kerrigan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kerrigan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kerrigan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 137,157 US residents.
Is Kerrigan a common name?
We classify Kerrigan as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,535 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kerrigan most popular?
The single biggest year for Kerrigan was 2013, when 119 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kerrigan is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Kerrigan a female name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Kerrigan in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.