Shannyn
Feminine variation of Shannon, derived from the Irish surname meaning "old" or "wise".
Name Census estimates that about 500 living Americans carry the first name Shannyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shannyn today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shannyn births was 2002 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shannyn. 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 Shannyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
500
~ 1 in 685,509 Americans
Peak year
2002
29 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2015 SSA rank
#16,131
Tracked since 1966
Census
Shannyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 555 people with the first name Shannyn, which placed it at #19,209 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
#19,209
National first-name rank
People counted
555
555 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shannyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shannyn is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Shannyn 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 Shannyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.0% · 405
- Black or African American10.1% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 40
- Two or more races6.5% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Shannyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shannyn from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 149 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shannyn 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 Shannyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shannyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shannyn
The name Shannyn is an English variant of the Irish name Siobhán, which is derived from the old Gaelic word "siobhán" meaning "God is gracious." It is believed to have originated in Ireland during the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
The name Shannyn is thought to have first appeared in written records in the late 16th century, when it was used as a variant spelling of the more traditional Irish name Siobhán. One of the earliest known references to the name Shannyn can be found in a parish record from County Cork, Ireland, dated 1589.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shannyn. One of the most famous was Shannyn O'Brien (1845-1921), an Irish poet and playwright whose works celebrated Irish culture and nationalism. Another notable Shannyn was Shannyn Fitzgerald (1902-1985), an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the 1920s and 1930s.
In the realm of literature, Shannyn Harrington (1920-2003) was a renowned American author and journalist who wrote several best-selling novels and non-fiction works, including her critically acclaimed memoir "A Life in Letters." The name Shannyn was also borne by Shannyn MacDonald (1933-2019), a Canadian painter and sculptor whose works were exhibited in galleries across North America and Europe.
Another notable figure was Shannyn Roberts (1952-2018), a British environmentalist and activist who campaigned tirelessly for the protection of rainforests and indigenous rights. Her efforts earned her numerous awards and recognition from various organizations and governments around the world.
Despite its Irish origins, the name Shannyn has been adopted and used in various cultures and communities across the globe, reflecting its enduring appeal and versatility as a given name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Shannyn
People
Shannyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shannyn 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
Shannyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shannyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 500 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shannyn 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 685,509 US residents.
Is Shannyn a common name?
We classify Shannyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shannyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Shannyn was 2002, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shannyn is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shannyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 555 people with the name Shannyn, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,209 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 Shannyn 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 Shannyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shannyn leans strongly female. 541 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 10 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Shannyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shannyn is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Shannyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shannyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (405 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 Shannyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shannyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shannyn 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 Shannyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shannyn 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 Shannyn 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 Shannyn?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Shannyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.