Mag
Strong, courageous, or powerful, derived from Magna, Latin for "great".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Mag. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mag today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mag births was 1924 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mag. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mag. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1924
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1924 SSA rank
#4,822
Tracked since 1884
Census
Mag in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Mag, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mag
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mag is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.1%). 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 Mag 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 Mag at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.2% · 131
- Hispanic or Latino24.6% · 67
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.1% · 41
- Black or African American11.8% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Mag: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mag from the 1880s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mag 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 Mag during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mag
The name Mag originates from the Scandinavian region, particularly in Norway and Sweden, and has its roots in the Old Norse language. It is believed to have derived from the Norse word "magr," which means "thin" or "lean." This name was likely given to children who were slender or had a petite build.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mag can be found in the Icelandic sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives and stories from the medieval period. The name appears in the Saga of Burnt Njal, which dates back to the late 13th century. In this saga, Mag is mentioned as the name of a farmer who lived in Iceland during the Viking era.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mag was particularly popular in Scandinavian countries, where it was often associated with strength and resilience, as well as a connection to the natural world. Several notable figures from this period bore this name, including Mag Eriksson (1205-1277), a Swedish nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the Scandinavian crusades.
As the Scandinavian influence spread across Europe, the name Mag also made its way to other regions. One notable example is Mag Beaulieu (1428-1492), a French knight and military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War. He was known for his bravery and strategic prowess on the battlefield.
In the 16th century, Mag Steinsson (1510-1567) was a prominent Icelandic scholar and writer who contributed to the preservation of Old Norse literature and culture. His works include translations of classical texts and a collection of Icelandic folk tales and legends.
Another historical figure with the name Mag was Mag Weidemann (1640-1692), a German philosopher and theologian. He was known for his writings on ethics and moral philosophy, which were influential in shaping the intellectual discourse of his time.
Throughout history, the name Mag has been associated with various meanings and cultural interpretations, reflecting its diverse roots and the societies in which it has been present. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over the centuries, it remains a name with a rich historical legacy and cultural significance.
People
Mag + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mag as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mag: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mag?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mag 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 - US residents.
Is Mag a common name?
We classify Mag as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mag most popular?
The single biggest year for Mag was 1924, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mag is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mag in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Mag, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Mag 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 Mag?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mag leans strongly female. 223 people counted with this name were female (80.2%), compared with 55 male bearers (19.8%). 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 Mag?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mag is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.1%). 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 Mag most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mag in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (131 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 Mag in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mag a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mag in the SSA data are female. 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 Mag still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mag 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 Mag 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 Mag?
You can see how many people have the name Mag on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.