Recorded 1941–2022 · United States
Meg was most popular in 1959, when 196 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,243 that year. It was not recorded in 2025. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 5,321 people named Meg.
Meg first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1941, which makes it about 84 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 81 of the 85 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 5,321 American births named Meg between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,919 are estimated to be alive today.
Meg was not recorded in 2025. The SSA withholds any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so fewer than five American babies were given it.
Meg is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 11 births a year, against 23 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -54% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Meg is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 5,321 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,919 Americans named Meg are alive today — 92% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 49 years old, and half are between 28 and 63. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
A variant of Megan · Welsh · diminutive of Margaret, "pearl"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Meg on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org