Meighan
A feminine name of Gaelic origin meaning "little pearl".
Name Census estimates that about 528 living Americans carry the first name Meighan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Meighan today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meighan births was 1988 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meighan. 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
528
~ 1 in 649,156 Americans
Peak year
1988
43 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2003 SSA rank
#17,455
Tracked since 1965
Popularity
Meighan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meighan 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 191 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
Meighan 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 Meighan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meighans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Alabama, Florida recorded the most babies named Meighan, while Texas, Florida, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Meighan
The given name Meighan is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Maeghdhín, which is a diminutive of the Old Irish name Máedóc, meaning "lord" or "chief." The name originated in Ireland during the early medieval period, around the 5th to 8th centuries AD.
The earliest known historical figure with the name Meighan was Saint Máedóc, also known as Áedan or Moedhóc, who lived in the 7th century AD. He was the founder and first Bishop of Ferns, a town in County Wexford, Ireland. Saint Máedóc's feast day is celebrated on January 31st in the Catholic Church.
Another notable bearer of the name was Meighan Ó Ruairc, a 16th-century Irish chieftain who ruled over the territory of West Breifne (modern-day County Leitrim) from 1532 to 1536. He was known for his resistance against the English crown and his efforts to preserve Irish culture and traditions.
In the 18th century, Meighan O'Reilly (1720-1798) was an Irish Catholic priest and renowned scholar who wrote extensively on Irish history and linguistics. He is best known for his work "Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society," which helped preserve the Irish language and cultural heritage.
In more recent times, Meighan Richardson (1801-1886) was a British actress and theatre manager who managed the Haymarket Theatre in London for over 30 years. She was known for her performances in Shakespearean plays and her efforts to promote the arts.
Meighan Desmond (1923-2006) was an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. She is best known for her roles in the classic films "The Thin Man" and "The Maltese Falcon."
People
Meighan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meighan 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
Meighan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meighan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 528 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meighan 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 649,156 US residents.
Is Meighan a common name?
We classify Meighan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 564 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meighan most popular?
The single biggest year for Meighan was 1988, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meighan is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Meighan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meighan 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.