Shannon

Where Shannon comes from

Borrowed from Irish Sionainn.
— Wiktionary's entry for Shannon
  • place
  • From a surname
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1912
    First appearance
    #2,979 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1937
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1943
    Shannon Lucid born
    American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut
  4. 1973
    Shannon Elizabeth born
    American actress
  5. 1976
    Peak, #17
    13,368 babies named Shannon — more than any year before or since.
  6. 1988
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #56.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname or place name (from the river); first used in the USA in early 20th century, and only recently in Ireland.
Namesakes
  • Shannon Lucid · American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut, born 1943
  • Shannon Elizabeth · American actress, born 1973
  • Shannon Leto · American drummer, born 1970
  • Shannon Lee · American actress, born 1969
  • Shannon Walker · American scientist and NASA astronaut, born 1965

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.