Girls' name · since 1922

Megan

440,065 babies named Megan in U.S. Social Security records since 1922, with the highest year being 1990. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

#80 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#887 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
440,065
born since 1922
1990s
peak decade

Megan currently ranks #887 among girls' names in America, with 440,065 babies recorded since 1922.

Megan has 440,065 recorded births among girls since 1922, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #887 as of the latest data, more common than 95% of girls, busiest in the 1990s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1922 to 2025.

  • #80 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #887 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 440,065 born since 1922
  • 1990s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Megan ranks #80 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #887 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 440,065 born since 1922, peaking in the 1990s.

#80 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#887 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
440,065
born since 1922
1990s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%94.8%
Megan vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Megan's 440,065 recorded births place it above 99.88% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

51 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.

How Megan compares

440,065 Top 1% higher than 99% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Megan's all-time total is 1,170x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Megan Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 440,065 376 567,345
Peak-year births 20,259 21 19,840

Megan's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Megan splits its recorded history at 1977: 94% of all births land in the more recent half, 6% in the earlier half, a lean toward present-day use rather than a passing spike. The single quietest year was 1926 (5 births) -- compare that against the 1990 peak of 20,259 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Megan popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1922–2025

Top 1,000 girls' name
Peak year (1990)
20,259
Annual births at peak, across 104 years of records
05,00010,00015,00020,00025,000 192219421955196819811994200720202025 301

Megan popularity over time - boys

1,104 total births recorded since 1968 (Megan as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 1,104 births
020406080100 196819751980198519901995200020052014 6

Megan by decade

1990s is the heaviest window (160,375 births, 36% of the file).

1990s was Megan's strongest decade.

160,375 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 36% of all-time use.

Megan births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1990s at 160,375 births (36% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Megan compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Megan's total volume

Megan vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 1%2%3%4%5%6% 406080100120140160 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -117, 5.5%-146, 5.1%-146, 2.6%-145, 2.6%-146, 4%-146, 3%-135, 2.8%-146, 5.5%-146, 1.9%-146, 2.7%-56, 5.3%-146, 3.6%-146, 5.5%-146, 4.5%-145, 3%Megan-104, 4.6%Megan
Megan vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Megan by state

Where Megan concentrates geographically, total births since 1922

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Megan
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
42,128 9.6%
#2 Texas
26,120 5.9%
#3 Ohio
25,967 5.9%
#4 Pennsylvania
25,260 5.7%
#5 Illinois
22,602 5.1%
#6 New York
22,197 5.0%
#7 Michigan
18,464 4.2%
#8 Florida
16,621 3.8%
California share of Megan's total US births 9.6%
Even split

42,128 of 440,065 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Megan appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Megan?
440,065 babies have been named Megan since 1922. All-time, it sits at #80 of 72,339 girls' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #887 of 17,297 among girls. The peak year was 1990 with 20,259 births.
Where does Megan sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Megan ranks #80 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #887 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Megan most popular?
Megan was most popular in the 1990s decade with 160,375 total births. The single peak year was 1990.
Where is Megan most popular?
The top states for the name Megan are California (42,128 births), Texas (26,120 births), Ohio (25,967 births).
How long has the name Megan been used?
Megan has been recorded in Social Security data since 1922, spanning 104 years of data through 2025.
What names are similar to Megan?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Meghan, Meg, Meghann, Meggan, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Megan's data

  • Megan's decade-level peak was the 1990s (160,375 total births); usage has since declined to 2,429 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • California records the most Megans (42,128 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Megan

Nearby Names Like Megan

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Megan

Names with a similar popularity rank to Megan

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Megan: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1922–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Megan draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.