Taegan
A variant of the Irish name Teagan meaning "little poet or poet".
Name Census estimates that about 1,472 living Americans carry the first name Taegan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Taegan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taegan births was 2008 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taegan. 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.
Key insights
- • Taegan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 232,849 Americans
Peak year
2008
111 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,344
Tracked since 1996
Gender
Gender distribution for Taegan
Taegan is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,489 total registrations, 391 (26.3%) were male and 1,098 (73.7%) were female.
Taegan as a male name
- Ranked #13,946 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (30 births)
Taegan as a female name
- Ranked #8,344 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (82 births)
Popularity
Taegan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taegan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 728 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
Taegan 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 Taegan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taegans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Utah recorded the most babies named Taegan, while West Virginia, Oklahoma, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Taegan
The name Taegan is thought to have originated from the Old Irish language, with its roots dating back to the early medieval period in Ireland. It is derived from the Gaelic words "tadhg," meaning "poet" or "philosopher," and "an," meaning "little." Together, the name Taegan is believed to signify "little poet" or "little philosopher."
During the 5th and 6th centuries, the name Taegan was borne by several Irish saints and scholars, indicating its early cultural significance. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Saint Taegan, an Irish monk and scholar who lived in the 6th century and was known for his wisdom and literary works.
In ancient Irish mythology, the name Taegan is associated with the legendary figure of Tadhg Mór, a powerful druid and seer who is said to have lived during the mythical reign of the High King Cormac mac Airt in the 3rd century AD. Tadhg Mór was renowned for his prophetic abilities and his role as a wise counselor to the king.
Throughout Irish history, the name Taegan has been carried by several notable figures. Taegan Mór mac Cáirthinn (fl. 970) was an influential Irish poet and scholar from County Mayo, known for his contributions to the preservation of ancient Irish literature. Taegan Ua Conchobair (d. 1030) was an Irish king of Connacht and a patron of the arts, responsible for the construction of several churches and monasteries.
In more recent times, the name Taegan has been borne by individuals such as Taegan Goddard (b. 1968), an American political writer and author, and Taegan Burns (b. 1993), an Australian actress known for her roles in television series like "Deadloch" and "The Inbetweeners."
The name Taegan has also been used in literature and popular culture, further contributing to its recognition and popularity. In the fantasy novel series "The Sword of Truth" by Terry Goodkind, one of the main characters is named Taegan, a powerful sorceress and ally of the protagonists.
People
Taegan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taegan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Taegan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taegan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,472 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taegan 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 232,849 US residents.
Is Taegan a common name?
We classify Taegan as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,489 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taegan most popular?
The single biggest year for Taegan was 2008, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taegan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Taegan a female name?
Yes, 73.7% of people registered as Taegan 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.