Regan
Regan is a unisex given name with multiple origins. It is a transferred use of the Irish surnames Regan and Reagan, which are Anglicized forms of Ó Riagáin, meaning 'descendant of Riagán', a name of uncertain meaning. Use for girls was influenced by a character in William Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear. Regan was more commonly used for males in the Anglosphere in the 1800s.
- Literature
- English
Meaning & Origin of Regan
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Regan is a unisex given name with multiple origins. It is a transferred use of the Irish surnames Regan and Reagan, which are Anglicized forms of Ó Riagáin, meaning 'descendant of Riagán', a name of uncertain meaning. Use for girls was influenced by a character in William Shakespeare’s tragic play King Lear. Regan was more commonly used for males in the Anglosphere in the 1800s.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Literature
- English
The Story of Regan
As a girl name
Regan first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1946, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2001: 747 births, good for #391 nationwide. About 37% of every Regan on record arrived during the 2000s, its defining decade. As of 2026, Regan ranks #2,558 for girls with 69 births, falling sharply (-43%). All told, over 16K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1940s to the 2020s.
As a boy name
Regan first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a boy name in 1920, with 5 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1979: 89 births, good for #930 nationwide. As of 2026, Regan ranks #4,050 for boys with 27 births, falling sharply (-28%). All told, over 4K Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1920s to the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Regan
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Regan. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Regan
Phonetically similar names — useful when Regan is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Regan
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About the name Regan
Regan is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1946 and has accumulated 16K births in the dataset. Regan's peak popularity came in 2001 when it ranked #391. Use the chart and map above to compare Regan's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2001 →
- Names of the 2000s →
- Names starting with "R" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
- Browse unisex names →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.