Finnegan
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Meaning
“Irish surname meaning 'descendant of Fionnagán', from 'fionn' (fair, white)”
Goes by Finn. See all nicknames
The story
Finnegan is the Finn family at its most Irish, descendant of Fionnagan, the fair one doubled into a diminutive, and it carries the best-read joke in the family: an Irish wake, a novel nobody finishes, and a surname that grins about both. The living family around it is storied here in force: Finn, the anchor, about 35,400; Finley, the crossover, about 42,200. Finnegan's own record is young: about 80 in the 1990s, 2,200 in the 2000s, 6,700 in the 2010s, and 4,100 so far this decade, closing on the full 2010s with years to run. It goes to boys about 13,000 to 100, and Finn waits inside it for every one of them. Fair at the root, literary at the edges, and a record climbing with years to run: the wake was premature.
How popular is Finnegan around the world?
In the United States, 4,130 babies were named Finnegan between 2020 and 2025.
Finnegan is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 5,300
In the United States, 4,130 babies were named Finnegan between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Finnegan peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 6,1002017
In South Australia, 3 boys were registered as Finnegan in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 6,500
In Canada, 56 boys named Finnegan were born in 2024, the 517th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 73,000
In England and Wales, 8 boys named Finnegan were born in 2025, ranked 2,664th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Austria
last on record 2023
Finnegan is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Finnegan
Most people given the name Finnegan in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Finnegan · Names that go with Finnegan · Nicknames for Finnegan
The Finnegan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Finnegan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Finnegan fits with your family’s names and surname.
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