Megan
Meaning
pearl
Famously borne by Megan Rapinoe.
The story
Megan is Welsh family language that became a name in its own right. It began as a diminutive of Margaret, the Greek name traditionally meaning pearl, and for generations it belonged especially to Wales. By the middle of the twentieth century English speakers elsewhere had started treating Megan as independent rather than as a nickname. The American record catches that expansion almost from the beginning: the name first registers in the 1970s, rises sharply in the 1980s, reaches its high point in the 1990s, and then eases through the 2000s and 2010s. That compact curve gives Megan a clear generation in the United States, but its Welsh history is much older than the trend. Meg remains available as an even shorter form, though Megan already did the work of turning Margaret's family tree into a complete, straightforward name.
Megan around the world
One shared root links 17 names across 7 languages.
Shared root: from Greek margarites "pearl", by way of Latin Margarita
The constellation
13 more branches of this family
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Megan peaked in the 1990s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
477 people · the #13,843 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 4
Among people named Megan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 225 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Megan
Most people given the name Megan in the United States were born between 1980 and 1999. The Megan you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Megan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Megan 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 Megan fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Does Megan fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Megan to your family’s tree →