Morganna
A feminine name of Welsh origin meaning "bright sea" or "sea birth".
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the first name Morganna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Morganna today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morganna births was 2003 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morganna. 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 Morganna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
123
~ 1 in 2,786,621 Americans
Peak year
2003
14 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,303
Tracked since 1984
Census
Morganna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 189 people with the first name Morganna, which placed it at #39,747 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
#39,747
National first-name rank
People counted
189
189 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Morganna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morganna is White at 70.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.6%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Morganna 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 Morganna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.4% · 133
- Hispanic or Latino10.6% · 20
- Black or African American7.9% · 15
- Two or more races6.9% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 2
Popularity
Morganna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morganna from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Morganna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Morganna 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 Morganna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morganna
The given name Morganna has its origins in the Medieval Latin word "morgana", which was derived from the Welsh word "morgan" meaning "sea-born" or "circling sea". This name was closely associated with the legendary sorceress Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legends, who was said to have been born from a union between a human and an otherworldly being.
The name Morganna first gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Britain and parts of Europe where tales of King Arthur and his knights were widely circulated. It was often given to daughters born near the sea or to those believed to possess mystical or supernatural abilities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Morganna can be found in the 12th-century work "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain) by Geoffrey of Monmouth, where he mentions Morgan le Fay as the powerful enchantress and half-sister of King Arthur.
In later centuries, the name Morganna appeared in various literary works and historical records. Morganna, Countess of Alençon (1174-1233), was a prominent figure in medieval France and is believed to have been named after the legendary sorceress.
Morganna de Lusignan (c. 1220-1282), also known as Morgana di Baux, was a noblewoman from the House of Lusignan and the ruling Princess of Akko (Acre) in the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the 13th century.
Morganna de Scoville (c. 1345-1410) was a renowned herbalist and healer from the town of Scoville in France, known for her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and natural remedies.
Morganna de Rohan (1515-1572) was a French noblewoman and renowned beauty who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine de' Medici at the court of King Henry II of France.
Morganna Blakemore (1893-1972) was a British actress and playwright who gained recognition for her roles in several Shakespearean productions and for her works exploring the experiences of women in the early 20th century.
Throughout history, the name Morganna has carried connotations of mystery, enchantment, and a connection to the natural world, particularly the sea and its mystical qualities. It has been borne by both historical figures and fictional characters, reflecting the enduring influence of Arthurian legends and the allure of the supernatural.
People
Morganna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morganna 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
Morganna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morganna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morganna 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 2,786,621 US residents.
Is Morganna a common name?
We classify Morganna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 126 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morganna most popular?
The single biggest year for Morganna was 2003, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morganna is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Morganna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 189 people with the name Morganna, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,747 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 Morganna 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 Morganna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morganna leans strongly female. 185 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 5 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Morganna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morganna is White at 70.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.6%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Morganna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Morganna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.4% (133 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 Morganna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Morganna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Morganna 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 Morganna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Morganna 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 Morganna 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 people have Morganna as a first name?
You can see how many people have the name Morganna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.