Eamon
A masculine name of Irish origin meaning "prosperous protector".
Name Census estimates that about 4,515 living Americans carry the first name Eamon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eamon today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eamon births was 2016 (182 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eamon. 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 Eamon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 75,915 Americans
Peak year
2016
182 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,497
Tracked since 1919
Census
Eamon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,121 people with the first name Eamon, which placed it at #4,494 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
#4,494
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eamon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eamon is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Eamon 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 Eamon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.0% · 3,503
- Two or more races5.3% · 219
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 187
- Black or African American2.9% · 119
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
Popularity
Eamon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eamon from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,481 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Eamon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eamon 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 Eamon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eamons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. New York, California, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Eamon, while Vermont, Missouri, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eamon
The name Eamon originated from the Irish Gaelic language and has its roots in ancient Celtic culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Edmund, which is derived from the Old English words "ead" meaning "prosperity" or "fortune" and "mund" meaning "protection." The name Eamon can be traced back to the 9th century AD when it first appeared in ancient Irish manuscripts.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Eamon can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In these annals, an individual named Eamon ua Cennétig, a king of Leinster, is mentioned in the year 841 AD. This suggests that the name was in use among the Irish nobility during that time period.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Eamon was popular among the Irish and Scottish Gaelic populations. It was often associated with religious figures and scholars, such as Eamon Ó Dornáin, an Irish priest and poet who lived in the 16th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Eamon Raghallach, a 15th-century Irish chieftain and leader of the Uí Fhailghe dynasty.
In more recent history, the name Eamon gained prominence during the Irish revolutionary period of the early 20th century. Eamon de Valera, an Irish patriot and political leader who served as the third President of Ireland from 1959 to 1973, was a prominent figure who carried the name. His birth name was Edward, but he adopted the Irish form Eamon as a symbol of his commitment to Irish nationalism.
Other famous individuals with the name Eamon include Eamon Dunphy, an Irish broadcaster and author born in 1945, and Eamon Kelly, an Irish actor and comedian born in 1976. In the world of sports, Eamon Zayed, a Libyan-Irish former professional soccer player born in 1983, and Eamon Coghlan, an Irish former track and field athlete born in 1952, have also carried the name.
While not as common as some other Irish names, Eamon has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly within Irish and Scottish Gaelic communities. Its ancient Celtic roots and associations with notable figures in literature, religion, politics, and culture have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Eamon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eamon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eamon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eamon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,515 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eamon 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 75,915 US residents.
Is Eamon a common name?
We classify Eamon as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,641 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eamon most popular?
The single biggest year for Eamon was 2016, when 182 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eamon is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eamon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,121 people with the name Eamon, or 1.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,494 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 Eamon 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 Eamon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eamon appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,122 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Eamon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eamon is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Eamon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eamon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (3,503 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 Eamon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eamon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eamon in the SSA data are male. 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 Eamon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eamon 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 Eamon 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 common is the name Eamon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.