Sean

maleIrish, Anglicised form of Sean, via Hebrew John

The Irish form of John, ultimately carrying the meaning 'Yahweh is gracious' via its Hebrew ancestry.

Origin: Irish, Anglicised form of Sean, via Hebrew John

Official popularity data is available for 7 regions, from 1963 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #1 in Republic of Ireland in 2006. See regions.

Sean: Recorded every year since 1963, it reached #1 in 1997, and it stood at #141 in 2025.

7registrars recorded it
257times a registrar ranked it
63years from first to last
#1highest recorded position
48groupings it qualifies for
70names it appears alongside

What stands out in Sean's record

Reached #1 in a registrar's published list. Names by highest position
Ranked every year since 1963, without a single year missing. Names by continuity of record
Held a top-100 place for 62 years running. Names by top-100 run
England and Wales registered 1,594 births with the name in 1996, its largest count from any one registrar. Names by yearly birth count

SHAWN/ʃɔːn/

Compare Sean Run Name Checker on Sean

Data Confidence

Evidence: ModerateCompleteness: SubstantialEditorial review: 2026-07-21

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-07-21), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (7) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Irish, Anglicised form of Sean, via Hebrew John
Meaning: The Irish form of John, ultimately carrying the meaning 'Yahweh is gracious' via its Hebrew ancestry.
Pronunciation: SHAWN
Syllables: 1
Common nicknames: None recorded
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: male
Language family: Irish, Anglicised form of Sean, via Hebrew John

Popularity

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#49
1997	#51
1998	#61
1999	#58
2000	#60
2001	#67
2002	#74
2003	#67
2004	#83
2005	#94
2006	#95
2007	#97
2008	#99
2009	#132
2010	#151
2011	#178
2012	#214
2013	#239
2014	#255
2015	#284
2016	#359
2017	#368
2018	#435
2019	#404
2020	#509
2021	#412
2022	#577
2023	#574
2024	#638
2025	#615

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 · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Republic of Ireland in every year from 1964 to 2025.

In 2025: #141 among boys in Republic of Ireland, #615 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 7 national registrars across 7 regions, 1963–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1963
First recorded at #82 among boys in New South Wales, Australia in 1963 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
New South Wales, Australia · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #615 among boys in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Boys

Sean appears in 6 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Boys, with 62 ranked years and 30,691 births registered; the earliest is New Zealand · Boys, from 1963.

Sean across 6 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.

Sean'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 · Boys	#38 (1964)	#1 (1997)	#141 (2025)	62 of 62	30,691 (1964–2025)	994 (2006)
Norway · Boys	#544 (1965)	#185 (2007)	#496 (2022)	47 of 58	568 (1965–2022)	31 (2007)
New South Wales, Australia · Boys	#82 (1963)	#29 (1967)	#85 (2007)	44 of 45	8,215 (1963–2007)	355 (1969)
New Zealand · Boys	#95 (1963)	#28 (1995)	#83 (2007)	45 of 45	5,201 (1963–2007)	196 (1993)
England and Wales · Boys	#49 (1996)	#49 (1996)	#615 (2025)	30 of 30	15,067 (1996–2025)	1,594 (1996)
Northern Ireland · Boys	#15 (1997)	#13 (2001)	#48 (2024)	28 of 28	2,880 (1997–2024)	186 (1997)

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Inside a single year a registrar's ranking is its birth counts put in order, so the top of a list is always the name given to the most babies that year. Across years the two separate, because the number of births and the number of names sharing them both change.

In New South Wales, Australia · Boys the name reached its highest position, #29, in 1967, when 280 births were registered with it. More were registered in 1969 — 355 — in a year it ranked #30.

Sean by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

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 Sean in Republic of Ireland · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	1,233	6 of 10	206
1970s	2,987	10 of 10	299
1980s	4,901	10 of 10	490
1990s	7,099	10 of 10	710
2000sbusiest	9,130	10 of 10	913
2010s	5,032	10 of 10	503
2020s	309	6 of 10	52

Across Republic of Ireland · Boys, the 2000s were its busiest decade, averaging 913 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2017 and 2018, when recorded births fell by 362, from 453 to 91.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Sean appears in

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 7 registrars between 1963 and 2025, ranked in 63 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1, first reached in 1997.

It held a top-100 place in 62 years, 62 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 1,594 births, registered in England and Wales in 1996.

1 registrar ranked it inside their own top 10. It reached #1 in 1 registrar's list.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1963, and 61 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.

Sean was ranked #1 in Republic of Ireland · Boys in 1997. 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.

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.

Seamie · #327, 11y
Seamus · #55, 62y
Sean Og · #283, 13y
Seana · #162, 33y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 7 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.

Amelia · #1, 59y
Emily · #1, 62y
Isabella · #1, 59y
Jason · #1, 62y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Amelia · #1, 59y
Aoife · #1, 62y
Conor · #1, 62y
Emily · #1, 62y

Comparisons involving Sean

Existing comparison pages where Sean and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Sean in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Sean vs Kenneth
In 1964 they stood at #38 and #41 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, 3 places apart; by 2024 they were #123 and #785.
Sean · Kenneth · 60 shared years, 1964–2024 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2024 Republic of Ireland ranking
Sean vs Henry
In 1996 they stood at #49 and #58 in England and Wales · Boys, 9 places apart; by 2025 they were #615 and #13.
Sean · Henry · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Sean vs Edward
In 1996 they stood at #49 and #45 in England and Wales · Boys, 4 places apart; by 2025 they were #615 and #31.
Sean · Edward · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking

Closest long-running positions

Names that stayed close to Sean within one registrar's list over many years. A gap measured inside that list, never across registrars.

Sean vs Jesse
Across 25 shared years in New Zealand · Boys, Sean and Jesse averaged 9.4 places apart, ending at #83 and #62.
Sean · Jesse · 25 shared years, 1981–2007 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2007 New Zealand ranking
Michael vs Sean
Across 28 shared years in Northern Ireland · Boys, Michael and Sean averaged 10.2 places apart, ending at #66 and #48.
Michael · Sean · 28 shared years, 1997–2024 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2024 Northern Ireland ranking
Sean vs Dean
Across 38 shared years in New South Wales, Australia · Boys, Sean and Dean averaged 11.2 places apart, ending at #85 and #94.
Sean · Dean · 38 shared years, 1963–2007 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2007 New South Wales, Australia ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Sean and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Jack vs Sean
In 2007, Jack moved ahead of Sean in Republic of Ireland · Boys — #2 and #1 the year before became #1 and #2.
Jack · Sean · 53 shared years, 1970–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2007 Republic of Ireland ranking
Sean vs Noah
In 2018, Noah moved ahead of Sean in Republic of Ireland · Boys — #5 and #6 the year before became #74 and #3.
Sean · Noah · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2018 Republic of Ireland ranking
Sean vs Conor
In 2013, Conor moved ahead of Sean in Republic of Ireland · Boys — #4 and #5 the year before became #5 and #4.
Sean · Conor · 62 shared years, 1964–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2013 Republic of Ireland ranking

Compared inside Republic of Ireland lists

Pairs involving Sean measured in Republic of Ireland's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Sean at its highest position.

Sean vs Raymond
In 1964 they stood at #38 and #30 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, 8 places apart; by 2025 they were #141 and #509.
Sean · Raymond · 61 shared years, 1964–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 Republic of Ireland ranking
Sean vs Andrew
Sean and Andrew changed places 14 times in Republic of Ireland · Boys between 1964 and 2025, ending at #141 and #106.
Sean · Andrew · 62 shared years, 1964–2025 · Repeatedly exchanged positions
See the 2025 Republic of Ireland ranking
Sean vs Connor
Both reached their highest recorded position in Republic of Ireland · Boys within 2 years — Sean #1 in 1997, Connor #71 in 1998.
Sean · Connor · 61 shared years, 1965–2025 · Peaked in the same years
See the 1998 Republic of Ireland ranking

Republic of Ireland overview→

Sean 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 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Sean without appearing here.

Sean moved ahead of

Stein
In 2000 they stood at #272 and #264 in Norway · Boys; by 2001 that had become #248 and #476.
Ronny
In 1996 they stood at #319 and #272 in Norway · Boys; by 1997 that had become #294 and #481.
Stig
In 2000 they stood at #272 and #223 in Norway · Boys; by 2001 that had become #248 and #313.
Ashley
In 2016 they stood at #359 and #322 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2017 that had become #368 and #414.

Moved ahead of Sean

Joakim
In 1972 they stood at #404 and #534 in Norway · Boys; by 1973 that had become #479 and #168.
Lachlan Compare
In 2019 they stood at #404 and #454 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2020 that had become #509 and #347.
Tadhg Compare
In 2022 they stood at #577 and #600 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2023 that had become #574 and #419.
Conor Compare
In 2015 they stood at #284 and #344 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #359 and #221.

Moved the opposite way to Sean

Alexander Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 while Alexander went from #116 to #55.
Conor Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 while Conor went from #56 to #16.
Aaron Compare
Between 1965 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #41 to #141 while Aaron went from #222 to #71.
Adam Compare
Between 1965 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #41 to #141 while Adam went from #157 to #20.

Moved the same way as Sean

Alfred
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 and Alfred from #134 to #286.
Denis
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 and Denis from #21 to #232.
Frank
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 and Frank from #164 to #286.
George Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Boys, Sean went from #38 to #141 and George from #52 to #112.

Meaning & Origin

The Irish form of John, ultimately carrying the meaning 'Yahweh is gracious' via its Hebrew ancestry.

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name, Online Etymology Dictionary.Confidence: high.

Irish, Anglicised form of Sean, via Hebrew John

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Sean is officially recorded

7 official registrars have recorded Sean, between 1963 and 2025. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
New South Wales, Australia	1963–2007	44	#29 in 1967
New Zealand	1963–2007	45	#28 in 1995
Republic of Ireland	1964–2025	62	#1 in 1997
Norway	1965–2022	47	#185 in 2007
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#49 in 1996
Northern Ireland	1997–2024	28	#13 in 2001
Scotland	2024	1	#234 in 2024

Its high point came 57 years earlier in New South Wales, Australia (1967) than in Scotland (2024).

Variants

No spelling variants or nicknames recorded yet.

Similar Names

No similar names recorded yet for this name.

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

No commonly used alternate spellings recorded.

Pronunciation

SHAWN/ʃɔːn/

Syllables: 1
Ease: easy

VerifiedSource: Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Where Sean Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Sean in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

New South Wales, AustraliaEngland and WalesNorthern IrelandScotlandRepublic of IrelandNorwayNew Zealand

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Sean

Sean at a glance

What stands out in Sean's record

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Sean across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Sean by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Sean appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Sean

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Comparisons involving Sean

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside Republic of Ireland lists

Sean and the names beside it

Sean moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Sean

Moved the opposite way to Sean

Moved the same way as Sean

Meaning & Origin

Where Sean is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Sean Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Sean at a glance

What stands out in Sean's record

Sean across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Sean by decade in Republic of Ireland · Boys

Sean appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Sean

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Comparisons involving Sean

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside Republic of Ireland lists

Sean and the names beside it

Sean moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Sean

Moved the opposite way to Sean

Moved the same way as Sean