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Maygen
How to Pronounce Maygen
Pronounced MAY-guhn /ˈmeɪ.ɡən/High
Meaning: Maygen is a phonetic respelling of Megan, the Welsh diminutive of Margaret, which comes from Greek margarites, 'pearl.' The May- spelling simply mirrors the way the first syllable sounds; the meaning is inherited whole from Margaret.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Maygen is a creative spelling of Megan, which was itself one of the most popular girls' names of the 1980s and 1990s. Behind it lies Margaret and the Greek word for 'pearl.' While Megan, Meghan, and Meagan filled classrooms, the Maygen spelling stayed a rarity, appearing from around 1980 and peaking near 1992. Even then it was given to only a couple dozen girls a year.
A Maygen from the early 1990s is now an adult who almost certainly had to spell her name aloud often. As Megan itself has cooled, its rarer variants like Maygen have faded too; the name reads firmly as a late-twentieth-century respelling rather than a reviving classic.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Maygen mean?
It is a respelling of Megan, the Welsh short form of Margaret, from Greek for 'pearl.'
How do you pronounce Maygen?
It's said MAY-guhn /ˈmeɪ.ɡən/, two syllables, stress on the first.
Is Maygen a boy or girl name?
Maygen is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Maygen?
It has always been rare, an unusual spelling of the popular Megan that surfaced around nineteen-eighty and never spread widely.