Meaghan
A feminine variant of the Irish name Meaghan meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 13,405 living Americans carry the first name Meaghan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meaghan today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meaghan births was 1986 (744 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meaghan. 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.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 25,569 Americans
Peak year
1986
744 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1989 SSA rank
#6,690
Tracked since 1955
Gender
Gender distribution for Meaghan
Out of the 14,043 babies given the name Meaghan since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Meaghan as a male name
- Ranked #6,690 in 1989
- 7 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (7 births)
Meaghan as a female name
- Ranked #8,257 in 2020
- 13 female births in 2020
- Peak: 1986 (744 births)
Popularity
Meaghan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meaghan from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 5,425 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meaghan 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 Meaghan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meaghans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Massachusetts, New York, California recorded the most babies named Meaghan, while Nevada, Idaho, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 293 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meaghan
The name Meaghan is a feminine given name of Irish origin, derived from the ancient Irish Gaelic name Medhbh or Meadhbh. In Irish mythology, Medhbh was a powerful warrior queen who ruled over the western province of Connacht. The name is believed to have originated sometime around the 5th or 6th century AD.
The name Medhbh is thought to be derived from the Old Irish words "med" meaning "intoxicating" and "bh" meaning "she" or "woman." The name was originally spelled with the older Gaelic form "Meadhbh" or "Medhbh," but over time, it evolved into various Anglicized spellings like Meaghan, Megan, Meagan, and Meghan.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Medhbh can be found in the ancient Irish epic "Táin Bó Cúailnge" (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), which dates back to the 8th or 9th century AD. In this epic, Medhbh is portrayed as a formidable and assertive queen who leads her army into battle against the legendary hero Cú Chulainn.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women named Meaghan or variations of the name. One of the earliest was Medhbh, the semi-legendary Queen of Connacht, who is believed to have lived in the 1st century AD. Another notable bearer of the name was Medhbh Ní Mhordha, an Irish noblewoman and landowner from the 16th century.
In more recent times, Meaghan Oppenheimer (born 1968) is an American writer and co-founder of the non-profit organization "The Babybox Company." Meaghan Rath (born 1986) is a Canadian actress known for her roles in the TV shows "Hawaii Five-0" and "New Girl." Meaghan Penlington (born 1989) is a former Australian rules football player who played for the Adelaide Crows in the AFL Women's competition.
Meaghan Morin (born 1989) is a Canadian professional wrestler and former Olympic weightlifter. Meaghan Martin (born 1992) is an American actress best known for her role in the Disney Channel series "Camp Rock."
People
Meaghan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meaghan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Meaghan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meaghan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 13,405 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meaghan 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 25,569 US residents.
Is Meaghan a common name?
We classify Meaghan as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,043 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meaghan most popular?
The single biggest year for Meaghan was 1986, when 744 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meaghan is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Meaghan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meaghan 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.