Morghan
A feminine name derived from the Welsh name "Morgan", meaning "sea circle".
Name Census estimates that about 1,273 living Americans carry the first name Morghan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Morghan today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Morghan births was 2006 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Morghan. 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 Morghan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,249 Americans
Peak year
2006
61 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2004 SSA rank
#12,601
Tracked since 1981
Census
Morghan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,165 people with the first name Morghan, which placed it at #11,148 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
#11,148
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Morghan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morghan is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.2%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Morghan 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 Morghan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.3% · 702
- Black or African American30.2% · 352
- Two or more races4.9% · 57
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Morghan
Out of the 1,301 babies given the name Morghan since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Morghan as a male name
- Ranked #12,601 in 2004
- 5 male births in 2004
- Peak: 2004 (5 births)
Morghan as a female name
- Ranked #16,902 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2006 (61 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morghan leans strongly female. 1,119 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 47 male bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Morghan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Morghan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 503 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Morghan 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 Morghan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Morghans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Ohio recorded the most babies named Morghan, while South Carolina, Missouri, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Morghan
The name Morghan is a modern variant spelling of the Welsh name Morgan, which is derived from the Old Welsh words "mor" meaning "sea" and "gan" meaning "born." Traditionally, the name Morgan was given to children born by the sea or near a body of water.
In ancient Welsh mythology, Morgan was the name of a powerful enchantress and healer who lived on the island of Avalon. She was associated with the legendary King Arthur and was said to possess great magical abilities. The name Morgan gained popularity in the Middle Ages due to the widespread influence of Arthurian legends.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Morgan can be found in the 12th-century work "Historia Regum Britanniae" (History of the Kings of Britain) by Geoffrey of Monmouth. In this text, Morgan is depicted as a skilled healer and a key figure in the Arthurian tales.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Morgan or its variants. One of the most famous was Morgan le Fay, a powerful sorceress in Arthurian legend who was portrayed as both a villain and a benevolent figure, depending on the source. She was said to have lived during the late 5th or early 6th century.
Another historically significant figure was Morgan ap Rhys (c. 1140-1208), a Welsh prince and military leader who fought against the Norman invasion of Wales. He was known for his bravery and resistance against the Norman rulers.
In the 16th century, there was Morgan Llwyd (c. 1545-1609), a Welsh poet and writer who is considered one of the most important figures in Welsh literature during the Renaissance period.
During the 17th century, Morgan Philips Price (1619-1696) was a prominent Welsh politician and writer who played a significant role in the English Civil War and the restoration of the monarchy.
Another notable figure was Morgan Vaughan (1675-1730), a Welsh physician and author who wrote extensively on medical topics and was considered an expert in his field.
While the name Morgan has been in use for centuries, the variant spelling Morghan is a more modern form that emerged in recent times. It retains the Welsh roots and the association with the sea, while adding a unique twist to the traditional spelling.
People
Morghan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Morghan 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
Morghan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Morghan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Morghan 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 269,249 US residents.
Is Morghan a common name?
We classify Morghan as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,301 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Morghan most popular?
The single biggest year for Morghan was 2006, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Morghan is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Morghan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,165 people with the name Morghan, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,148 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 Morghan 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 Morghan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Morghan leans strongly female. 1,119 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 47 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Morghan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Morghan is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Black (30.2%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Morghan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Morghan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.3% (702 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 Morghan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Morghan a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Morghan 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 Morghan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Morghan 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 Morghan 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 are called Morghan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.