Sean
Irish form of John, meaning "God is gracious."
Name Census estimates that about 403,789 living Americans carry the first name Sean. It sits at #436 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Sean today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sean births was 1990 (12,070 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sean. 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 Sean with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Sean is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 2,962 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Sean have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
404K
~ 1 in 849 Americans
Peak year
1990
12,070 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#436
Tracked since 1925
Census
Sean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 377,131 people with the first name Sean, which placed it at #124 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
#124
National first-name rank
People counted
377K
377,131 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
124.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sean is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Sean 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 Sean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.5% · 288,562
- Black or African American8.5% · 32,137
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 23,220
- Two or more races4.8% · 18,120
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 13,352
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1,740
Gender
Gender distribution for Sean
Out of the 425,998 babies given the name Sean since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Sean as a male name
- Ranked #436 in 2024
- 726 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (12,018 births)
Sean as a female name
- Ranked #11,943 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1988 (103 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sean appears almost entirely male. Of the 377,127 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Sean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sean from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 104,685 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sean 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 Sean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Sean, while Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8,288 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sean
The name Sean has its origins in the Irish language, derived from the ancient Gaelic name Seán. This name traces its roots back to the Old Irish word "Séaghdhan" or "Séadna," which means "venerable" or "ancient."
The name Sean gained popularity in Ireland during the medieval period, particularly among families with strong cultural and historical ties to the island. It was often associated with traits such as wisdom, respect, and a deep connection to Irish heritage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sean can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. This text mentions several notable figures bearing the name, including Sean Mór O'Dubhagain, a renowned Irish historian and poet who lived in the 14th century.
Throughout the centuries, the name Sean has been carried by many influential individuals in Ireland and beyond. Some notable examples include:
1. Sean O'Casey (1880-1964), an Irish dramatist and memoirist, known for his plays such as "Juno and the Paycock" and "The Plough and the Stars."
2. Sean Lemass (1899-1971), an Irish politician who served as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland from 1959 to 1966.
3. Sean MacBride (1904-1988), an Irish statesman and prominent international humanitarian who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1974.
4. Sean Connery (1930-2020), the renowned Scottish actor best known for his portrayal of James Bond in several films.
5. Sean Penn (born 1960), an American actor, filmmaker, and political activist known for his critically acclaimed performances in movies like "Mystic River" and "Milk."
While the name Sean has Irish roots, it has also gained popularity in various English-speaking countries and has been adopted by people of diverse cultural backgrounds. However, the name remains closely tied to its Irish heritage and serves as a reminder of the rich cultural traditions and history of the Emerald Isle.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sean
People
Sean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sean as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 403,789 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sean 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 849 US residents.
Is Sean a common name?
We classify Sean as "Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 425,998 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sean most popular?
The single biggest year for Sean was 1990, when 12,070 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sean is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 377,131 people with the name Sean, or 124.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #124 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 Sean 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 Sean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sean appears almost entirely male. Of the 377,127 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Sean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sean is White at 76.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.5%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Sean most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (288,562 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 Sean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sean a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Sean 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 Sean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sean 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 Sean 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 are named Sean?
Find out how many people have the name Sean on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.