Message: "Maygen" - Behind the Name

Maygen

by Getb2 (guest)

2/15/2013, 4:09 AM

I've found someone named Maygen but I cant understand where such a name could come from... Any answers?

#Maygen

Replies

- overtheclouds +11

2/15/2013, 5:09 AM

It's probably a variant spelling of Megan, which is pronounced MAY-gən in some accents.

- ADT

2/16/2013, 5:05 PM

Agreed! I've also heard it pronounced like that.

- Getb2 (guest) +9

2/15/2013, 12:32 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, I also considered it... but I also considered it could be a mixture of "May" (which stands for Mabel, Mary or Megan) and some name ending in "gen" but I cant think of the later

- Getb2 (guest) +8

2/15/2013, 12:34 PM

I meant, Mabel, Mary and Margaret

- Getb2 (guest) +7

2/15/2013, 12:36 PM

this site syas there is a name, Muirgen, maybe Maygen is May-[Muir]-gen and I guess "muir" is sea and "gen" is "born"

- Amphelise (Chrisell) +6

2/22/2013, 2:48 PM

Well, it *could* be. But one has to remember that with names the simplest solution is often the right one, as most naming is not done by namesnerds.

Maygen doesn't show up in the popularity charts, but Maegan does, and it mimics the trend curve for Megan and Meagan precisely - when I put them into a graph they formed a set of nested arches, Megan over the top, Meagan in the middle and Maegan at the bottom, showing up inside the top 1000 for the shortest time and never getting inside the top 500. If you imagine Maygen as another arch beneath Maegan, never quite getting inside the top 1000 and only appearing at the height of Megan's popularity, it makes perfect sense.

This message was edited 2/22/2013, 2:50 PM

- Getb2 (guest) +5

2/22/2013, 4:38 PM

for me "Megan" sounds like "Meg"+"gun" so thinking of it like "May"+"gun" is... well.... not the simplest solution... It really sounded like a hybrid name... A simplification of a hybrid name...

- Amphelise (Chrisell) +4

2/23/2013, 1:41 PM

Vowel sounds are often very fluid between regions, and people are also more willing to alter vowel sounds to create slightly different names.

Megan is pronounced MEG-ən in most English-speaking countries, but I had to learn to remember this when I moved to the UK, as in Australia it's pronounced MEE-gən. The alternative spelling Meagan makes NO sense to me when pronounced MEG-ən, but it is pronounced that way.

Maegan and Maygen are just further alterations of the main vowel sound, not different names.

This message was edited 2/23/2013, 1:41 PM

- ClaudiaS +3

2/23/2013, 3:47 PM

Megan is MAY-gən in the majority of the US. I did know a MEE-gən, but she was an anomaly and constantly had to correct other people's pronunciation of her name. MEG-ən is not a usual pronunciation, at least in the western US.

So to me, Maygen and Maegan are nothing more than "phonetic spellings" of Megan.

- Phoebe (Kate)

3/22/2013, 4:42 PM

I've lived in California my whole life, and MAY-gən is the usual pronunciation here. MEG-ən is hard for me to say because I'm not used to it.

- Amphelise (Chrisell) +1

2/24/2013, 1:48 AM

Thanks Claudia! I'd only heard MEG-ən on US T.V. so I wasn't aware of the MAY-gən pronunciation being widespread.

That pretty much confirms that Maygen is just a variant spelling of Maegan.

- vigdis (guest)

3/19/2013, 6:09 PM

MEG-en is what I'm used to.

Alexander is more used to it as well. I'm from the East Coast, he's from the Midwest.

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