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Megan

Gender
Girl
Say it
MEG-an
Origin
Greek
UK rank, 2025
#826 for girls
US rank, 2025
#887 for girls

Megan is a girls' name of Greek origin, meaning “pearl”. In 2025 it ranked 826th for girls in the UK (47 babies) and 887th for girls in the US (301 babies).

What does Megan mean?

Greek: Welsh pet form of Margaret

“pearl”

Welsh pet form of Margaret, via Meg; it spread beyond Wales in the later 20th century.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Megan a girl's or a boy's name?

Megan is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 47 girls in the UK and 301 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Megan in the UK?

Rank in 2025
826th among girls
Babies in 2025
47 about 1 in 5,900 girls
Five-year trend
Falling fast down 78% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 47 girls in the UK were named Megan, making it the 826th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 224th. Its busiest year was 1999, with 7,249 girls.

2025 had the fewest girls named Megan since the records began in 1996.

Half of all the girls named Megan in the UK since 1996 were born between 1999 and 2007. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier girls aren't counted.

In 2025, 59 girls in the UK were given Megan or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #641, up from #826 for this spelling alone.

Among girls in 2025, it was 816th in England and Wales and 397th in Northern Ireland.

In the England and Wales top 100 for girls, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1994 (#17), 2004 (#10) and 2014 (#65).

1996Busiest: 7,249 in 19992025
Megan in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202547#826
202486#514
202385#511
2022141#344
2021165#322
2020239#224
2019308#185
2018466#128
2017627#98
2016749#82
2015856#72
2014998#66
20131,307#47
20121,564#39
20112,050#30
20102,520#24
20092,579#19
20082,817#19
20072,826#18
20063,194#16
20053,496#12
20043,926#11
20034,568#6
20025,175#6
20016,297#3
20006,597#3
19997,249#3
19987,144#2
19976,620#4
19965,514#10

How popular is Megan in the US?

Rank in 2025
887th among girls
Babies in 2025
301 about 1 in 5,300 girls
Five-year trend
Falling down 28% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 301 girls in the US were named Megan, making it the 887th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 640th. Its busiest year was 1990, with 20,259 girls. It first appears in the records in 1922.

2025 had fewer girls named Megan than any year since 1958.

Half of all the girls named Megan in the US since 1880 were born between 1985 and 1997, the years shaded on the chart below.

In 2025, 403 girls in the US were given Megan or a name that sounds the same. With every name's spellings counted this way, that ranks #703, up from #887 for this spelling alone.

1922Busiest: 20,259 in 19902025
Megan in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
2025301#887
2024369#762
2023417#694
2022399#730
2021490#609
2020453#640
2019499#608
2018565#547
2017631#496
2016751#432
2015855#385
20141,064#305
20131,246#255
20121,561#199
20111,915#164
20102,406#131
20093,058#105
20083,416#100
20074,124#78
20064,946#60
20055,856#41
20046,687#36
20037,800#30
20029,210#22
200110,300#20
200011,436#18
199912,230#15
199813,258#13
199714,244#11
199614,770#12
199515,530#13
199416,580#10
199316,384#11
199217,842#10
199119,278#11
199020,259#11
198919,780#11
198818,570#12
198717,823#12
198618,590#11
198520,013#10
198416,984#11
198314,124#21
19829,518#34
19818,964#33
19809,134#30
19798,293#31
19785,895#41
19775,320#54
19764,463#62
19754,191#69
19742,818#105
19732,021#141
19721,587#180
19711,500#199
19701,267#246
19691,031#276
1968812#309
1967709#328
1966655#353
1965609#370
1964512#433
1963432#468
1962391#491
1961400#485
1960365#506
1959358#515
1958301#564
1957258#607
1956197#681
1955198#664
1954153#747
1953156#728
1952119#841
195186#1,004
195061#1,182
194930#1,735
194828#1,777
194729#1,789
194622#1,969
194524#1,698
194416#2,198
194321#1,899
194212#2,665
19410–
19409#2,962
19396#3,780
19380–
19370–
19367#3,374
19357#3,429
19348#3,157
19337#3,405
19320–
19317#3,495
19305#4,548
19290–
19280–
19277#3,873
19265#4,849
19250–
19247#4,000
192313#2,587
19227#4,009

Nicknames for Megan

Names like Megan

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Caitlin, Erin, Morgan, Keira, Ffion, Molly, Teagan, Raegan, Eden, Jasmine, Chloe, Cassidy

Other spellings of Megan

Meghan

Names related to Megan

Meghna, Meagan, Maegan, Meaghan, Meghann, Meggan, Meghana, Magan, Megyn

More Greek names

Luca, Theodore, Sophia, George, Theo, Lucas, Sofia, Alexander, Sebastian, Penelope, Phoebe, Margot, Luke, Sophie, Zoe, Iris

Every Greek name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Megan: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/megan, updated 20 October 2026.