Sheehan
Of Irish origin, meaning "descendant of Sir John".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Sheehan. It is a predominantly male name (93.2% of registrations). The average person named Sheehan today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sheehan births was 2001 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sheehan. 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 Sheehan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sheehan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
2001
12 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2008 SSA rank
#14,193
Tracked since 1983
Census
Sheehan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 194 people with the first name Sheehan, which placed it at #39,126 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
#39,126
National first-name rank
People counted
194
194 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sheehan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheehan is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (30.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Sheehan 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 Sheehan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.8% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander30.4% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 9
- Two or more races3.1% · 6
- Black or African American2.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Sheehan
Sheehan leans heavily male at 93.2% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sheehan as a male name
- Ranked #14,287 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 2001 (12 births)
Sheehan as a female name
- Ranked #14,193 in 1989
- 5 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheehan on both sides of the split. Of the 195 people counted with this name, 142 were male (72.8%) and 53 were female (27.2%).
Popularity
Sheehan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sheehan from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 28 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sheehan 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 Sheehan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sheehan
The given name Sheehan has its roots in the Irish Gaelic language and culture, dating back several centuries. It is a derivative of the Irish surname Ó Síodhacháin, which means "descendant of Síodhachán." Síodhachán itself is a diminutive form of the Irish word "síodha," meaning "peaceful" or "serene."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sheehan can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a notable figure named Seán Ó Síodhacháin, who lived in the 15th century and was a renowned scholar and poet.
In the 16th century, a prominent Sheehan was Diarmaid Ó Síodhacháin, a chieftain of the Uí Síodhacháin clan in County Cork, Ireland. He played a significant role in the Desmond Rebellions against English rule in the latter part of the century.
As the name Sheehan evolved over time, it gained popularity beyond its Irish roots. One notable bearer of the name was John Sheehan (1785-1857), an Irish-born American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
In the realm of literature, Patrick Augustine Sheehan (1852-1913) was an Irish Catholic priest and novelist best known for his works set in rural Ireland, such as "My New Curate" and "Luke Delmege."
Another famous individual with the name Sheehan was William Joseph Sheehan (1828-1892), an Irish-American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the first Bishop of Salina, Kansas.
In more recent history, Eugene Sheehan (1904-1964) was an American military officer who played a crucial role in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, earning the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery.
Throughout its history, the given name Sheehan has been a testament to its Irish heritage, carrying with it a sense of peacefulness and serenity. While its prominence may have ebbed and flowed over the centuries, it has left an indelible mark on various aspects of human endeavor, from literature and politics to military service.
People
Sheehan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sheehan 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
Sheehan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sheehan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sheehan 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Sheehan a common name?
We classify Sheehan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 74 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sheehan most popular?
The single biggest year for Sheehan was 2001, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sheehan is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sheehan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 194 people with the name Sheehan, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,126 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 Sheehan 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 Sheehan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sheehan on both sides of the split. Of the 195 people counted with this name, 142 were male (72.8%) and 53 were female (27.2%). 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 Sheehan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sheehan is White at 58.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (30.4%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Sheehan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sheehan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.8% (114 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 Sheehan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sheehan a male name?
Yes, 93.2% of people registered as Sheehan 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 Sheehan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sheehan 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 Sheehan 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 share the name Sheehan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.