Find out how popular the last name Sheehan is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Sheehan.

Sheehan, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Sheehan surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Sheehan in America

Sheehan is the 1305th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Sheehan surname appeared 26,902 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 9 people would have the surname Sheehan.

We can also compare 2010 data for Sheehan to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Sheehan

The surname Sheehan is of Irish origin, derived from the Gaelic personal name Siodhcháin, meaning "peaceful." It first appeared in the Munster region of Ireland, particularly in County Cork and County Kerry.

The name can be traced back to the 12th century, when it was recorded as O'Sheehan, indicating a patronymic surname meaning "descendant of Sheehan." The prefix "O'" denoted a grandson or descendant in the Irish naming system.

In ancient Irish manuscripts, the name appears as O'Siocháin, O'Shehyn, and O'Sheehan. These variations emerged due to the challenges of transliterating Gaelic names into English during the anglicization of Irish surnames in the 16th and 17th centuries.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, where it mentions an O'Sheehan chieftain named Donnchadh O'Siocháin in the year 1172.

Notable individuals with the surname Sheehan include:

1. Jeremiah Sheehan (1818-1882), an Irish-American politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Senate.

2. William Francis Sheehan (1859-1917), an American politician and lawyer who served as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1907 to 1910.

3. Denny Sheehan (1904-1982), an Irish Gaelic football player who captained the Kerry senior football team and won three All-Ireland medals.

4. Patty Sheehan (born 1956), an American professional golfer who won six major championships on the LPGA Tour between 1983 and 1994.

5. Bill Sheehan (1937-2014), an American basketball player and coach who led the University of Hartford to the NCAA Division II championship in 1977.

The Sheehan name is also associated with various place names in Ireland, such as Sheehanville, a village in County Limerick, and Sheehaneennabro, a townland in County Kerry, reflecting the historical presence of the family in these areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Sheehan

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Sheehan.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Sheehan was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Sheehan has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Sheehan was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Sheehan, please contact us.

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