Margan
Of Breton origin, meaning "from the sea" or "beach dweller".
Name Census estimates that about 88 living Americans carry the first name Margan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Margan today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Margan births was 1984 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Margan. 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 Margan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
88
~ 1 in 3,894,936 Americans
Peak year
1984
9 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2009 SSA rank
#19,136
Tracked since 1981
Census
Margan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 97 people with the first name Margan, which placed it at #53,534 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
#53,534
National first-name rank
People counted
97
97 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Margan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margan is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Margan 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 Margan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.5% · 49
- Black or African American36.1% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 4
- Two or more races3.1% · 3
Popularity
Margan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Margan from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Margan 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 Margan 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 Margan
Margan is a name with roots tracing back to ancient Celtic and Gaulish cultures. The name is derived from the Proto-Celtic word "mori-genos," which translates to "born of the sea." This suggests that the name may have originally been associated with maritime traditions or coastal regions.
In the early Middle Ages, the name appears in various forms, such as "Morgen" and "Morgain," in Welsh and Breton literature. One notable figure was Morgan le Fay, a powerful enchantress and healer in Arthurian legends. Her name was sometimes spelled "Margan" or "Morgane."
During the 12th century, the name gained popularity in parts of Western Europe, particularly in France and England. One of the earliest recorded instances was Margan de Battenburgh, a Norman noblewoman who lived from 1135 to 1201.
In the 13th century, Margan de Byres was a Scottish nobleman and supporter of King Robert the Bruce during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He played a significant role in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
Fast forward to the 16th century, and we find Margan Llwyd (1550-1612), a Welsh poet and member of the prestigious Gorsedd of Bards. His works contributed to the preservation of Welsh literature and culture.
Moving into the 17th century, Margan Vaughan (1600-1661) was an English politician and member of the Long Parliament. He was a vocal supporter of the Parliamentarian cause during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, Margan Rhys (1720-1788) was a Welsh clergyman and author. He wrote several religious works and contributed to the development of the Welsh language and literature.
Throughout history, the name Margan has been associated with influential figures from various backgrounds, including nobility, literature, politics, and religion. While its usage may have fluctuated over time, the name's origins and historical significance remain deeply rooted in Celtic and European cultures.
People
Margan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Margan 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
Margan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Margan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 88 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Margan 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 3,894,936 US residents.
Is Margan a common name?
We classify Margan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Margan most popular?
The single biggest year for Margan was 1984, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Margan is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Margan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 97 people with the name Margan, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,534 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 Margan 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 Margan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Margan on both sides of the split. Of the 105 people counted with this name, 21 were male (20.0%) and 84 were female (80.0%). 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 Margan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Margan is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Margan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Margan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.5% (49 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 Margan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Margan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Margan 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 Margan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Margan 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 Margan 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 Margan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.