Megann
A feminine name of English origin meaning "pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 761 living Americans carry the first name Megann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Megann today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Megann births was 1988 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Megann. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Megann with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
761
~ 1 in 450,400 Americans
Peak year
1988
40 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2011 SSA rank
#16,122
Tracked since 1967
Census
Megann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 771 people with the first name Megann, which placed it at #15,039 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,039
National first-name rank
People counted
771
771 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Megann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megann is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Megann described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Megann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.7% · 661
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 42
- Two or more races4.2% · 32
- Black or African American3.1% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Megann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Megann from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 284 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Megann 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 Megann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meganns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Megann
The name Megann has its origins in the ancient Celtic language, tracing back to the 5th century AD in the region now known as Ireland and Scotland. It is derived from the Gaelic word "meagán," meaning "little one" or "little pearl." The name was initially a diminutive form of the name Meaghdha, which itself derived from the Old Irish word "mág," meaning "plain" or "field."
The earliest recorded use of the name Megann can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history dating back to the 5th century. In these annals, a woman named Megann is mentioned as a noblewoman in the Kingdom of Dál Riata, an ancient Gaelic overkingdom located in modern-day western Scotland and northeastern Ireland.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Megann remained popular among Celtic communities, particularly in Ireland and Scotland. One notable figure bearing this name was Megann of Ferns, an Irish abbess who lived in the 7th century and founded the Monastery of Ferns in County Wexford, Ireland.
In the 12th century, the name Megann gained prominence in England due to the Norman Conquest and the intermingling of Anglo-Norman and Celtic cultures. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in England was Megann of Whalley, a noblewoman who lived in Lancashire in the late 12th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Megann appeared in various literary works, including the plays of William Shakespeare. In his play "Hamlet," a character named Megann is mentioned as a courtier in the royal court of Denmark.
Another notable figure with the name Megann was Megann Llewelyn, a Welsh poet and bard who lived in the late 16th century. She was renowned for her poetic works celebrating the Welsh language and culture.
In the 18th century, Megann O'Sullivan was an Irish patriot and rebel who fought against English rule during the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She was captured and executed for her involvement in the rebellion, becoming a symbol of Irish resistance and independence.
As the name Megann spread across Europe and beyond, it took on various spellings and forms, such as Megan, Meagan, and Meghan. However, the core meaning and Celtic origins of the name remained intact, continuing to inspire parents across generations.
People
Megann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Megann 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
Megann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Megann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 761 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Megann 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 450,400 US residents.
Is Megann a common name?
We classify Megann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 797 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Megann most popular?
The single biggest year for Megann was 1988, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Megann is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Megann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 771 people with the name Megann, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,039 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Megann in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Megann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Megann appears almost entirely female. Of the 768 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Megann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megann is White at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Megann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Megann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (661 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Megann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Megann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Megann 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.
Is Megann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Megann in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Megann can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Megann?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.