Meg

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Meg: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Meg: Recorded every year since 1993, it reached #269 in 2000, and it stood at #3,961 in 2021.

3registrars recorded it
49times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#269highest recorded position
15groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2021

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#517
1997	#489
1998	#457
1999	#474
2000	#436
2001	#409
2002	#631
2003	#818
2004	#701
2005	#1343
2006	#1153
2007	#1196
2008	#1391
2009	#1909
2010	#1815
2011	#2025
2012	#2215
2013	#2887
2014	#4003
2015	#3252
2016	#2966
2017	#3229
2018	#5666
2019	#4686
2020	#3447
2021	#3961

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in 18 of the 27 years from 1993 to 2019.

In 2019: #871 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #4686 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 3 national registrars across 3 regions, 1993–2021 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1993
First recorded at #516 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1993 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1993–2019
Highest recorded position: #269 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2000 (recorded 1993–2019).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2021
Most recently recorded at #3961 among girls in England and Wales, in 2021.
England and Wales · Girls

Meg appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 26 ranked years and 685 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1993.

Meg across 3 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Meg's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#516 (1993)	#269 (2000)	#871 (2019)	18 of 27	99 (1993–2019)	11 (2000)
England and Wales · Girls	#517 (1996)	#409 (2001)	#3961 (2021)	26 of 26	685 (1996–2021)	76 (2001)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#358 (1997)	#282 (2000)	#331 (2003)	5 of 7	17 (1997–2003)	4 (2000)

Meg by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Meg in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	233	4 of 10	58
2000sbusiest	359	10 of 10	36
2010s	82	10 of 10	8
2020s	11	2 of 10	6

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 36 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2001 and 2002, when recorded births fell by 33, from 76 to 43.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Meg appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1993 to 2021. Highest recorded position: #269 in Republic of Ireland in 2000.

Meg's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2021	England and Wales	female	#3961	5	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3447	6	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#4686	4	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#5666	3	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#3229	7	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#2966	8	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#3252	7	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#4003	5	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#2887	8	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#2215	12	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#2025	13	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#1815	15	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#1909	13	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#1391	20	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#1196	23	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#1153	23	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1343	17	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#701	41	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#818	32	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#631	43	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#409	76	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#436	71	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#474	61	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#457	65	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#489	57	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#517	50	High	Verified
2003	Northern Ireland	female	#331	3	High	Verified
2002	Northern Ireland	female	#286	4	High	Verified
2000	Northern Ireland	female	#282	4	High	Verified
1998	Northern Ireland	female	#351	3	High	Verified
1997	Northern Ireland	female	#358	3	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#871	3	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#752	4	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#641	5	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#469	9	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#505	7	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#689	3	High	Verified
2004	Republic of Ireland	female	#414	7	High	Verified
2002	Republic of Ireland	female	#512	4	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	female	#335	8	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#269	11	High	Verified
1999	Republic of Ireland	female	#528	3	High	Verified
1998	Republic of Ireland	female	#425	4	High	Verified
1997	Republic of Ireland	female	#363	7	High	Verified
1996	Republic of Ireland	female	#393	6	High	Verified
1995	Republic of Ireland	female	#384	6	High	Verified
1994	Republic of Ireland	female	#411	5	High	Verified
1993	Republic of Ireland	female	#516	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 3 registrars between 1993 and 2021, ranked in 29 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #269, first reached in 2000.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 76 births, registered in England and Wales in 2001.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 4 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Meera · #536, 29y
Meerab · #962, 21y
Megan · #3, 68y
Meggan · #523, 11y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 3 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Lori · #269, 33y
Sullivan · #269, 29y
Ellie-Rose · #268, 29y
Leigha · #268, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Sullivan · #269, 29y
Tillie · #269, 30y
Corran · #268, 19y
Ellie-Rose · #268, 29y

Meg was ranked #269 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2000. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Meg and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Meg without appearing here.

Meg moved ahead of

Tyler Compare
In 2020 they stood at #4686 and #4001 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #5581.
Kirsten Compare
In 2018 they stood at #5666 and #1977 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #4686 and #5591.
Donna Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3447 and #3447 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #4634.
Kerry Compare
In 2020 they stood at #5666 and #4684 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #3961 and #4634.

Moved ahead of Meg

Meabh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3229 and #4063 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #1711.
Arlo Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3229 and #3583 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #2340.
Noah Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3229 and #3583 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #2499.
Carter Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3229 and #4063 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #5666 and #2674.

Moved the opposite way to Meg

Abigail Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 while Abigail went from #234 to #59.
Alexandra Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 while Alexandra went from #172 to #88.
Alice Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 while Alice went from #78 to #35.
Anna Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 while Anna went from #57 to #19.

Moved the same way as Meg

Aoife Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 and Aoife from #5 to #16.
Audrey Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 and Audrey from #234 to #716.
Deirdre Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 and Deirdre from #51 to #871.
Eileen Compare
Between 1993 and 2019 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Meg went from #516 to #871 and Eileen from #113 to #421.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 3 regions, from 1993 to 2021. Highest recorded position: #269 in Republic of Ireland in 2000. Source data last verified 2026-07-22.

Meg

Meg at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Meg across 3 official records

Meg by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Meg appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Meg

Meg and the names beside it

Meg moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Meg

Moved the opposite way to Meg

Moved the same way as Meg

Meg at a glance

Meg across 3 official records

Meg by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Meg appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Meg

Meg and the names beside it

Meg moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Meg

Moved the opposite way to Meg

Moved the same way as Meg