Egan
A modern English name of uncertain meaning, possibly originating from Old Irish.
Name Census estimates that about 1,205 living Americans carry the first name Egan. It is a predominantly male name (96.1% of registrations). The average person named Egan today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Egan births was 2019 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Egan. 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 Egan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 284,443 Americans
Peak year
2019
49 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,998
Tracked since 1915
Census
Egan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,162 people with the first name Egan, which placed it at #11,172 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
#11,172
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,162 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Egan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Egan is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Egan 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 Egan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 841
- Two or more races7.7% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 75
- Black or African American5.9% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Egan
Egan leans heavily male at 96.1% of total registrations, but 49 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Egan as a male name
- Ranked #3,998 in 2024
- 27 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (49 births)
Egan as a female name
- Ranked #16,188 in 2002
- 5 female births in 2002
- Peak: 1985 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Egan leans strongly male. 1,070 people counted with this name were male (91.9%), compared with 94 female bearers (8.1%).
Popularity
Egan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Egan from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 403 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Egan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Egan 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 Egan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Egans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Egan, while Texas, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Egan
The given name Egan has its origins in the Irish language and culture, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Gaelic word "éigean," which means "force" or "compulsion." This suggests that the name may have originally been bestowed upon someone who was perceived as possessing a strong-willed or determined character.
In ancient Irish mythology, the name Egan is associated with the legendary figure Éigean, a powerful warrior and chieftain known for his bravery and leadership skills. The name is also mentioned in several ancient Irish texts, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland), which is a medieval Christian pseudo-historical account of the ancient settlement of Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Egan can be traced back to the 11th century, when it appeared in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention an individual named Egan Ua Cathalain, who was a prominent member of the Uí Cathalain dynasty in County Clare, Ireland.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Egan. One of the most famous was Egan the Wise (c. 1100-1172), an Irish monk and scholar renowned for his knowledge of ancient Irish law and literature. He was a prominent figure in the monastic community of Clonmacnoise, which was a renowned center of learning during the Middle Ages.
Another prominent figure was Egan O'Rahilly (1670-1726), an Irish Jacobite and military leader who played a significant role in the Williamite War in Ireland (1689-1691). He led the Irish forces at the Battle of Aughrim in 1691, one of the decisive engagements of the conflict.
In more recent times, Egan Inoue (1904-1977) was a Japanese writer and literary critic who made significant contributions to the development of modern Japanese literature. His works explored themes of existentialism and the human condition, and he is regarded as one of the most influential Japanese intellectuals of the 20th century.
Another notable individual with the name Egan was Egan Richardson (1911-1983), an Australian actor and director who had a successful career in both theater and film. He was renowned for his performances in classic plays by writers such as Shakespeare and Chekhov.
Finally, Egan Budge (1857-1943) was a respected British Egyptologist and linguist who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Egyptian language and culture. He is best known for his translations of ancient Egyptian texts, including the Book of the Dead.
People
Egan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Egan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Egan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Egan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,205 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Egan 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 284,443 US residents.
Is Egan a common name?
We classify Egan as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,241 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Egan most popular?
The single biggest year for Egan was 2019, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Egan is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Egan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,162 people with the name Egan, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,172 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 Egan 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 Egan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Egan leans strongly male. 1,070 people counted with this name were male (91.9%), compared with 94 female bearers (8.1%). 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 Egan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Egan is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Egan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Egan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (841 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 Egan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Egan a male name?
Yes, 96.1% of people registered as Egan 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 Egan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Egan 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 Egan 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 Americans are named Egan?
See how many people have the name Egan on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.