Given name & surname
Finnegan
“a fair-haired man”
Finnegan is used as a given name and a surname. One Irish interpretation is “a fair-haired man.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Irish interpretation is “a fair-haired man.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Irish.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1995. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Finnegan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 13,115
- 13,011 boys · 104 girls
- Most popular year
- 2021
- 865 babies
- 2025
- 575
- #526 for boys · #13,768 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −11%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 569 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 526 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 11.2% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 6 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Ohio had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (41). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 8,559 as a first name in 2020; 10,180 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Finnegan’s family of names
Finnegan has a related form in Finnigan. Finnegan has a related form in Finegan. Finnegan has a related form in Finegen.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Finnegan
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Finnegan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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90% boys · 10% girls
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85% boys · 15% girls
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“from an ancient family”
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“descendant of Faolán”
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“loch” · “place of”
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“the little swift one”
>99% boys
Keagan
“small and fiery woman” · “a small and fiery man”
80% boys · 20% girls