Shannen
Little old one, a derived diminutive of Shannon.
Name Census estimates that about 1,973 living Americans carry the first name Shannen. It is a predominantly female name (92.8% of registrations). The average person named Shannen today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shannen births was 1993 (225 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shannen. 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.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,722 Americans
Peak year
1993
225 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,890
Tracked since 1961
Gender
Gender distribution for Shannen
Shannen leans heavily female at 92.8% of total registrations, but 150 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shannen as a male name
- Ranked #13,890 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1991 (10 births)
Shannen as a female name
- Ranked #17,240 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1993 (216 births)
Popularity
Shannen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shannen from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,018 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shannen 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 Shannen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shannens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Shannen, while Missouri, Connecticut, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shannen
The name Shannen is believed to have originated from the Irish Gaelic name Seánín, which is a diminutive form of the name Seán, meaning "God is gracious." It can also be traced back to the Old Irish name Siodhánach, meaning "old" or "ancient."
The name Shannen first appeared in historical records during the Middle Ages in Ireland, where it was commonly used as a masculine name. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a historical chronicle compiled in the 17th century, which mentions a Shannen O'Donnell from County Donegal in the 14th century.
As time passed, the name Shannen gradually transitioned into a feminine name, particularly in the English-speaking world. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name being used for a female was Shannen Doherty, an American actress born in 1971, who rose to fame for her roles in the television series "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Charmed."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shannen, including Shannen Koostachin (1986-2010), a Canadian activist and advocate for Indigenous rights who fought for better education facilities in her community. Another notable figure was Shannen Baker (1988-2019), an American singer-songwriter and musician known for her work with the band Hey Violet.
In the literary world, Shannen was the name of a character in the novel "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, published in 1951. The character, although minor, contributed to the book's exploration of adolescent angst and disillusionment.
Other notable individuals with the name Shannen include Shannen Fergus (born 1982), an Australian professional golfer, and Shannen Moser (born 1986), an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Maria Kanellis.
While the name Shannen has Irish roots, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions, transcending its original linguistic and geographical boundaries. The name's evolution from a masculine to a feminine form reflects the dynamic nature of language and cultural influences over time.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shannen
People
Shannen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shannen 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
Shannen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shannen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,973 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shannen 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 173,722 US residents.
Is Shannen a common name?
We classify Shannen as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,071 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shannen most popular?
The single biggest year for Shannen was 1993, when 225 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shannen is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shannen a female name?
Yes, 92.8% of people registered as Shannen 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.
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.