Não vou falar muito sobre eficiência, pois não testei contra outros métodos, mas sem ter uma tabela temporária, isso parece um caminho justo a seguir.
SELECT COUNT(u.userID) AS total, m.month
FROM (
SELECT 'Jan' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Feb' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Mar' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Apr' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'May' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Jun' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Jul' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Aug' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Sep' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Oct' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Nov' AS MONTH
UNION SELECT 'Dec' AS MONTH
) AS m
LEFT JOIN users u
ON MONTH(STR_TO_DATE(CONCAT(m.month, ' 2013'),'%M %Y')) = MONTH(u.userRegistredDate)
AND YEAR(u.userRegistredDate) = '2013'
GROUP BY m.month
ORDER BY 1+1;
Se você fizer a união com base em um formato de data, pode até reduzir o trabalho e a carga na consulta.
SELECT COUNT(u.userID) AS total, DATE_FORMAT(merge_date,'%b') AS month, YEAR(m.merge_date) AS year
FROM (
SELECT '2013-01-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-02-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-03-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-04-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-05-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-06-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-07-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-08-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-09-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-10-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-11-01' AS merge_date
UNION SELECT '2013-12-01' AS merge_date
) AS m
LEFT JOIN users u
ON MONTH(m.merge_date) = MONTH(u.userRegistredDate)
AND YEAR(m.merge_date) = YEAR(u.userRegistredDate)
GROUP BY m.merge_date
ORDER BY 1+1;
DEMO ao vivo de ambas as consultas.
