Shaemus
An Irish form of the name James, derived from the name Jacob.
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Shaemus. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shaemus today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaemus births was 2010 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaemus. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shaemus. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2010
7 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,884
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Shaemus: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaemus 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 Shaemus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaemus
The given name Shaemus originated from the Irish Gaelic name Séamus, which is the Irish version of the name James. This name has its roots in the Hebrew name Ya'akov, which means "supplanter" or "one who follows". The name was brought to Ireland by Christian missionaries during the Middle Ages.
In Ireland, the name Séamus has been in use since the 12th century. It was a popular name among Irish Catholics, as it was the Irish version of the name of one of the Twelve Apostles, James the Great. The name was also associated with St. James the Great, the patron saint of Spain, whose shrine at Santiago de Compostela was a major pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shaemus is in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history written in the early 17th century. The annals mention a Shaemus O'Neill, who was a prominent chieftain in Ulster in the late 16th century.
Another notable figure with the name Shaemus was Shaemus Hogan, an Irish writer and poet who lived in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He is best known for his poems in the Irish language, which celebrated Irish culture and criticized English rule in Ireland.
In the 19th century, Shaemus O'Rourke was a prominent Irish nationalist and member of the Young Ireland movement, which sought to establish an independent Irish republic. He was born in 1830 and was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1848.
Another famous bearer of the name was Shaemus O'Shaughnessy, an Irish-American writer and poet who lived from 1872 to 1923. He was part of the Irish literary renaissance and was known for his poems and essays celebrating Irish culture and identity.
In more recent times, Shaemus Doran was an Irish actor and writer who lived from 1915 to 1988. He appeared in several films and television shows and was also a playwright and novelist.
While the name Shaemus has its origins in Ireland, it has been adopted by people of various backgrounds and cultures around the world. However, it remains closely associated with Irish heritage and culture.
People
Shaemus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaemus 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
Shaemus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaemus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaemus 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Shaemus a common name?
We classify Shaemus as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaemus most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaemus was 2010, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaemus is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Shaemus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaemus a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaemus 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 Shaemus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaemus 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 Shaemus 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Shaemus?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.