Megan is a name of Welsh origin and it means "kind". It comes from the Welsh male name Megwyn, which is derived from the elements meg, meaning "kind", and yw, meaning "honor" or "fame". Megan was traditionally used as a boy's name in Wales, but it has been popularly used for girls since the late 20th century. The name Megan gained popularity in English-speaking countries during the mid-20th century, possibly due to its use by Welsh immigrants and through literature and media portrayals of Welsh characters. Today, Megan is a well-known and widely-used name around the world, with many variations such as Meg, Meghan, and Meagan also being popular choices.
The statistics provided show the annual number of babies named Megan born in the United States from 1968 to 2014. The name Megan gained popularity throughout the decades, with a significant increase in usage between the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In the initial years, the number of births was relatively low, with only five babies named Megan born in 1968. However, by 1976, this number had more than tripled to twenty births per year. This trend continued into the late 1970s and early 1980s, reaching a peak of eighty births in 1985.
After this peak, the popularity of the name Megan began to decline, with a significant drop occurring between 1986 and 1990. In 1990, only forty-four babies were named Megan compared to sixty-one births in the previous year. This downward trend continued throughout the 1990s, with the annual number of Megan births fluctuating between ten and thirty-five.
The early 2000s saw a slight resurgence in popularity for the name Megan, with thirty-five births recorded in 2004. However, this increase was short-lived, as the number of Megan births declined once again to single digits by 2005. In recent years, the popularity of the name Megan has remained relatively low, with only five or six babies named Megan born each year between 2009 and 2014.
In total, there were 1,104 babies named Megan born in the United States from 1968 to 2014. The statistics demonstrate how the popularity of a name can change over time, with Megan peaking in popularity during the mid-1980s and declining thereafter. Despite this decline in recent years, Megan remains a classic and recognizable name that has been given to thousands of girls across multiple generations in the United States.