Gannon
Masculine · “descendant of the fair-haired one”
Gannon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 6,677 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Gannon is the Irish Mag Fhionnáin — son of the fair-haired one — from fionn, the same word behind Finn.
How old is the name Gannon?
Gannon first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Gannon is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 6,600 people named Gannon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gannon most popular?
Gannon peaked in 2014, reaching #414 nationally. Today it ranks #2207, 1,793 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Where it comes from
From fionn to Gannon
The story of Gannon
Irish patronymics take Ó for a grandson and Mac or Mag for a son, and the same root name gives quite different anglicizations depending on which was used — Fionnán yields Finnan and Gannon alike. The name crossed to America as a surname and entered given-name use recently. It is in current use.
Meaning
descendant of the fair-haired one
From the Irish Mag Fhionnáin, built on a diminutive of fionn, 'fair' or 'white'. English record-keeping produced Gannon from the Mag- form, where Ó Fionnáin gave Finnan. The Irish is ordinary and the reading undisputed.
How the name formed
- fionn
- Mag Fhionnáin
- Gannon
Related forms: Mag Fhionnáin · Gannan
Pronouncing Gannon
GAN-un
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Gannon
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1966
- Most boys named
- 2014751 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #414reached in 2014
- Change vs 2024
- −25.6%64 in 2025, from 86
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Gannon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mag Fhionnáin in Irish — related form
- Gannan in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas.
Gannons among us
people named Gannon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 26,689 born in 2025 was named Gannon
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jaquan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gannon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jaquan climbed just as high around 1999, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jaquan's path sketches the road Gannon is walking now.
Gannon sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Gannon is headed
Gannon is easing off slowly — about 33% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Gannon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gannon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That Ó and Mag produce entirely different anglicizations of one name is a first-rate fact.
- The fair-haired meaning is concrete and undisputed.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- Gannon and Cannon are close enough to confuse.
- It is very new as a given name.
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What they receive
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Gannon
Masculine · #2207 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gannons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,600 people named Gannon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gannon in 2025?
- Gannon ranks #2207 among US boy names in 2025, with 64 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gannon?
- About 1 in every 26,689 US boys born in 2025 was named Gannon — 64 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gannon with classmates?
- Gannon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gannon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jaciel#2207 · Zayaan#2207 · Damarion#2207 · Elam#2207 · Raleigh#2207 · Canon#2207 · Sylvester#2207 · Jaydon#2207
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gannon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gannon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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