Channon
A feminine name derived from the Irish Shannon, meaning "old river".
Name Census estimates that about 1,068 living Americans carry the first name Channon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Channon today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Channon births was 1971 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Channon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Channon with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Channon was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Channon sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 320,931 Americans
Peak year
1971
57 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2023 SSA rank
#7,362
Tracked since 1964
Census
Channon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 962 people with the first name Channon, which placed it at #12,795 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,795
National first-name rank
People counted
962
962 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Channon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Channon is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Black (38.1%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Channon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Channon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.0% · 462
- Black or African American38.1% · 367
- Two or more races5.2% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Channon
Channon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,141 total registrations, 412 (36.1%) were male and 729 (63.9%) were female.
Channon as a male name
- Ranked #7,362 in 2023
- 11 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1971 (17 births)
Channon as a female name
- Ranked #11,789 in 2008
- 9 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1971 (40 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Channon on both sides of the split. Of the 968 people counted with this name, 345 were male (35.6%) and 623 were female (64.4%).
Popularity
Channon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Channon from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 387 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Channon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Channon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Channons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Michigan, Ohio recorded the most babies named Channon, while Ohio, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Channon
The given name Channon has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "cænan," which means "to show forth" or "to make known." This name was prevalent in Anglo-Saxon England during the 5th to 11th centuries.
Channon is closely related to the Old English name Cænnan, which shares a similar meaning and spelling. It also has connections to the Old Norse name Kænni, reflecting the cultural exchange and influence between the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings during that period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Channon can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals documenting the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The name appears in entries from the 9th century, suggesting its use among the nobility and ruling classes of the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Channon. One of the earliest recorded was Channon of Mercia (c. 850 - 920), a prominent Anglo-Saxon nobleman and military leader who played a crucial role in the defense of Mercia against Viking invasions.
Another notable figure was Channon the Scholar (c. 1050 - 1120), a renowned monk and scholar from the Benedictine abbey of Malmesbury. He was renowned for his extensive writings and contributions to the preservation of ancient manuscripts.
During the Middle Ages, the name Channon was also found in various religious texts and chronicles. Channon of Avranches (c. 1080 - 1150) was a Benedictine monk and historian who authored a significant work on the history of the Norman Conquest of England.
In the 16th century, Channon Barker (c. 1540 - 1610) was a prominent English merchant and tradesman who played a significant role in the expansion of commercial activities in London.
Another notable figure was Channon Willoughby (c. 1660 - 1720), an English soldier and military officer who served in the Nine Years' War and later became a member of the Parliament of England.
While the name Channon has ancient roots and a rich history, it has become less common in modern times, particularly in its traditional English spelling. However, its variants, such as Shannon and Chanel, have gained popularity as given names in various cultures and regions around the world.
People
Channon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Channon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Channon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Channon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,068 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Channon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 320,931 US residents.
Is Channon a common name?
We classify Channon as "Rare". It ranks above 90.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,141 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Channon most popular?
The single biggest year for Channon was 1971, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Channon is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Channon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 962 people with the name Channon, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,795 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Channon in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Channon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Channon on both sides of the split. Of the 968 people counted with this name, 345 were male (35.6%) and 623 were female (64.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Channon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Channon is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Black (38.1%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Channon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Channon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (462 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Channon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Channon a female name?
Yes, 63.9% of people registered as Channon in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Channon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Channon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Channon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Channon as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Channon, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.