Daegan
A masculine name of Celtic origin, meaning "descendant" or "little fire".
Name Census estimates that about 935 living Americans carry the first name Daegan. It is a predominantly male name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Daegan today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daegan births was 2007 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daegan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Daegan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
935
~ 1 in 366,582 Americans
Peak year
2007
66 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,433
Tracked since 1993
Census
Daegan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 838 people with the first name Daegan, which placed it at #14,152 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,152
National first-name rank
People counted
838
838 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daegan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daegan is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.4%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Daegan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Daegan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 680
- Two or more races7.4% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 59
- Black or African American2.7% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Daegan
Daegan leans heavily male at 94.9% of total registrations, but 48 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Daegan as a male name
- Ranked #8,433 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (61 births)
Daegan as a female name
- Ranked #17,055 in 2015
- 5 female births in 2015
- Peak: 2006 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daegan leans strongly male. 769 people counted with this name were male (91.2%), compared with 74 female bearers (8.8%).
Popularity
Daegan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daegan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 443 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daegan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Daegan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daegans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Daegan, while Oklahoma, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daegan
The name Daegan has its origins in the Irish Gaelic language and culture. It is derived from the Old Irish word "daingean," which means "firm" or "secure." This name likely emerged during the medieval period in Ireland, where Gaelic names were prevalent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daegan can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The Annals mention a man named Daegan mac Fergusa, who lived in the 7th century and was a member of the Uí Chennselaig dynasty.
In the 9th century, a Daegan Ua Brogarbhain was an Irish poet and scholar. He is known for his work on the Brehon Laws, which were the ancient laws of Ireland.
During the 11th century, a prominent figure named Daegan mac Domnaill was the King of Uí Failge, a medieval Irish kingdom located in what is now County Offaly.
In the 13th century, a Daegan Ua Cormaic was an Irish cleric and scribe who transcribed several important manuscripts, including the Book of Fenagh.
Another notable figure with the name Daegan was Daegan O'Mulconry, who lived in the 16th century and was an Irish historian and genealogist. He compiled several important works on Irish history and lineages.
While the name Daegan has deep roots in Irish history, it has been used sporadically throughout other parts of the world over the centuries. However, its origins and most significant historical connections can be traced back to medieval Ireland and the Gaelic language.
People
Daegan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daegan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Daegan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daegan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 935 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daegan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 366,582 US residents.
Is Daegan a common name?
We classify Daegan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 946 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daegan most popular?
The single biggest year for Daegan was 2007, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daegan is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daegan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 838 people with the name Daegan, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,152 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Daegan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Daegan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daegan leans strongly male. 769 people counted with this name were male (91.2%), compared with 74 female bearers (8.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Daegan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daegan is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.4%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Daegan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Daegan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (680 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Daegan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daegan a male name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Daegan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Daegan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daegan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Daegan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Daegan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.