BabyNameScoreName profile
Reagan
feminine
This reflects the first name on its own. The full-name report scores the complete combination separately.
Check it with a full name ↓Reagan is an Anglicized transferred use of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin ('descendant of Riagán'), itself from a personal name, Riagán, of uncertain etymology — most likely from Old Irish rí ('king') with a diminutive suffix. The surname was historically associated with the O'Regans of Meath, one of the four tribes of Tara.
Why it works
- English speakers will almost certainly pronounce it correctly on the first try
- spelling is short and predictable — rarely needs repeating
Popularity
Distinctive — #248 in the latest U.S. ranking.
Origin & usage
A textbook Irish-surname-to-given-name transfer: Reagan/Regan/Raegan are Anglicized spellings of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin ('descendant of Riagán'), historically borne by the O'Regans of Meath, one of the four tribes of Tara under the southern Uí Néill. As a first name it moved from rare and largely masculine to overwhelmingly feminine in the U.S. from the 1990s onward, part of the same wave as Morgan, Madison, and Kennedy.
Documented origin: Reagan is an Anglicized transferred use of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin ('descendant of Riagán'), itself from a personal name, Riagán, of uncertain etymology — most likely from Old Irish rí ('king') with a diminutive suffix. The surname was historically associated with the O'Regans of Meath, one of the four tribes of Tara.
How it travels
English and Turkish are shown by default; German is included when it adds a meaningfully different reading.
Spelling stability: high — based on letter-pattern analysis, not a documented linguistic fact.
Also documented
English (US): RAY-gən
Popularity without panic
Distinctive — #248 in the latest U.S. ranking.
Recognizable without feeling overused.
Full-name check
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Real-world considerations
- Distinctive — #248 in the latest U.S. ranking.
- Spelling note: Regan.
- The precise literal meaning of the root Irish name behind Reagan is not settled among sources; 'little king' is the best-attested working theory, not a confirmed etymology.