Megin
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "beautiful life".
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Megin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Megin today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Megin births was 1979 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Megin. 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
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
1979
20 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2000 SSA rank
#12,669
Tracked since 1969
Census
Megin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 322 people with the first name Megin, which placed it at #28,067 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
#28,067
National first-name rank
People counted
322
322 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Megin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megin is White at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Megin 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 Megin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.0% · 280
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 11
- Black or African American3.1% · 10
- Two or more races1.6% · 5
Popularity
Megin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Megin from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 114 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
Megin 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 Megin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Megins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Megin
The given name Megin originated from Old Norse, one of the ancient Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian peoples during the Viking Age, which lasted from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century. It is derived from the Old Norse word "megin," which means "power" or "strength." This name was commonly associated with warrior culture and was often given to boys in hopes that they would grow up to be strong and powerful men.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Megin can be found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems compiled in the 13th century. The name appears in the poem "Völuspá," which tells the story of the creation of the world and the eventual destruction of the gods during Ragnarök. However, it is unclear whether the name refers to a specific character or is used as a descriptive term for power or strength.
Throughout the Viking Age, the name Megin was popular among the Scandinavian peoples, particularly in modern-day Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. It was also carried to other regions by Viking explorers and settlers, including parts of the British Isles, Greenland, and even as far as North America.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Megin was Megin Eysteinsson, a Norwegian chieftain who lived in the late 10th century. He was a prominent figure in the Faroe Islands and is mentioned in the Færeyinga Saga, a historical narrative about the Faroese people.
Another notable figure with the name Megin was Megin Óláfsson, an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker who lived in the 11th century. He played a crucial role in the Christianization of Iceland and is mentioned in the Íslendingabók, a historical work written by Ari Þorgilsson in the 12th century.
In the 12th century, there was a Swedish nobleman named Megin Eriksson, who served as a member of the Privy Council under King Sverker I. He was involved in the power struggles between the Swedish kings and the Catholic Church during that time.
During the 13th century, a Norwegian chieftain named Megin Arnvidsson was a prominent figure in the Trøndelag region of Norway. He is mentioned in the Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, a historical narrative about the life of King Hákon IV of Norway.
In the 14th century, there was a Danish nobleman named Megin Pedersen, who served as a member of the Privy Council under King Valdemar IV Atterdag. He was involved in the negotiations that led to the reunification of Denmark and Sweden under the Kalmar Union in 1397.
While the name Megin has fallen out of common usage in modern times, it remains an important part of Scandinavian cultural heritage and reflects the warrior spirit and strength that were highly valued during the Viking Age.
People
Megin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Megin 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
Megin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Megin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Megin 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Megin a common name?
We classify Megin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 293 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Megin most popular?
The single biggest year for Megin was 1979, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Megin is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Megin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 322 people with the name Megin, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,067 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 Megin 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 Megin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Megin appears almost entirely female. Of the 324 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Megin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Megin is White at 87.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Megin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Megin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.0% (280 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 Megin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Megin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Megin 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 Megin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Megin 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 Megin 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 common is the name Megin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.