Sean

Where Sean comes from

Anglicised form of Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Johannes, variant of Ioannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān, literally “God is gracious”). Doublet of John, Jack, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Ian, Evan, Ivan, Shaun, Shane, and Giovanni.
— Wiktionary's entry for Sean
  • Irish
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1925
    First appearance
    #3,408 among boys, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1930
    Sean Connery born
    Scottish actor
  3. 1960
    Sean Penn born
    American actor
  4. 1972
    Peak, #33
    9,444 babies named Sean — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2009
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #97.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish.
Namesakes
  • Sean Connery · Scottish actor, 1930–2020
  • Sean Penn · American actor, born 1960
  • Sean Combs · American rapper and producer, born 1969
  • Sean Bean · British actor, born 1959
  • Sean Astin · American actor, born 1971

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.