Siobhan
An Irish feminine name derived from Siodhbhan meaning "she is God's graciousness".
Name Census estimates that about 6,809 living Americans carry the first name Siobhan. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Siobhan today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Siobhan births was 1980 (282 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Siobhan. 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 Siobhan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.8K
~ 1 in 50,338 Americans
Peak year
1980
282 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,931
Tracked since 1956
Census
Siobhan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,205 people with the first name Siobhan, which placed it at #3,068 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
#3,068
National first-name rank
People counted
7.2K
7,205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Siobhan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siobhan is White at 77.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Siobhan 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 Siobhan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.6% · 5,590
- Black or African American9.7% · 697
- Two or more races5.8% · 418
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 401
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 74
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 25
Popularity
Siobhan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Siobhan from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 2,086 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
Siobhan 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 Siobhan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Siobhans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, California recorded the most babies named Siobhan, while New Mexico, Georgia, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 211 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Siobhan
The name Siobhan has its origins in the Irish language, derived from the medieval Gaelic name Sibhán. This name traces its roots back to the Old Irish word "siav," which means "fairy" or "elf." The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in Ireland, particularly among the Gaelic nobility and ruling classes.
Siobhan is a feminine given name, often considered the Irish equivalent of the English name Joan or the French name Jeanne. The name's spelling has evolved over time, with variations such as Síobhán, Siubhan, and Sioban appearing in historical records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Siobhan can be found in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled in the 17th century. The annals mention a woman named Siobhan who lived in the 12th century and was the daughter of a prominent Irish chieftain.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Siobhan. One of the most famous was Siobhan McKenna (1923-1986), an Irish stage and film actress renowned for her performances in productions of classic Irish plays. Another notable Siobhan was Siobhan Donohue (1960-2012), an Irish singer and songwriter who achieved chart success in the 1990s.
In the realm of literature, Siobhan Dowd (1960-2007) was a celebrated Irish author who wrote several award-winning books for children and young adults. Her novel "A Swift Pure Cry" won the Carnegie Medal in 2007, one of the highest honors in children's literature.
The name Siobhan has also been associated with historical figures in Irish mythology and folklore. In the Irish legend of the Children of Lir, one of the central characters is a princess named Siobhan, who is transformed into a swan along with her siblings by their jealous stepmother.
Another notable bearer of the name was Siobhan Fitzpatrick (1914-1998), an Irish-American actress and singer who performed on Broadway and in Hollywood films throughout the mid-20th century.
While the name Siobhan has its roots in Irish culture, it has gained international recognition and popularity in recent decades, transcending its origins and becoming a name embraced by families around the world.
People
Siobhan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Siobhan 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
Siobhan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Siobhan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,809 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Siobhan 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 50,338 US residents.
Is Siobhan a common name?
We classify Siobhan as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,310 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Siobhan most popular?
The single biggest year for Siobhan was 1980, when 282 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Siobhan is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Siobhan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,205 people with the name Siobhan, or 2.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,068 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 Siobhan 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 Siobhan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Siobhan appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,208 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Siobhan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siobhan is White at 77.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Siobhan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Siobhan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.6% (5,590 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 Siobhan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Siobhan a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Siobhan 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 Siobhan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Siobhan 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 Siobhan 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 called Siobhan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.