Shanon
Masculine
Shanon is given to both — 1,732 boys and 4,817 girls since 1880. See Shanon as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Shanon is the shortest of four spellings of Ireland's longest river. Shannon, Shannan, Shanon and Shannen all say the same thing, and this one uses a single n where the river uses two — six letters where the map has seven, and no difference at all in the mouth.
How old is the name Shanon?
Shanon first appears in US birth records in 1952 — 73 years ago. The typical Shanon alive today was born around 1976, making them about 49 years old. About 1,600 people named Shanon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shanon most popular?
Shanon peaked in 1969, reaching #817 nationally. See the whole 1969 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Sionainn to Shanon
The story of Shanon
The doubled n in the English spelling of Shannon reflects the English habit of doubling a consonant after a short stressed vowel; the Irish original has one n and a different vowel structure entirely. So a single n is arguably closer to the Irish and reads as an error in English — which is a fair summary of what happens whenever an Irish name is spelled by English rules. The name went to boys first in America and moved to girls in the middle of the last century, taking all four spellings with it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Irish name of the river is Sionainn, and the goddess Sinann in the legend is either its personification or its namesake. The word is generally connected to sen, old or ancient, giving something like the old one, which suits a river. That reading is traditional rather than proven. The well-of-knowledge story attached to the goddess is very old myth and is not an etymology.
How the name formed
- Sionainn
- Shannon
- Shanon
Related forms: Sionainn
Pronouncing Shanon
SHAN-un
SHAN-un, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. All four spellings are said identically; the single n changes the look and nothing else.
Nicknames for Shanon
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
- 1952
- Most boys named
- 1975100 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #817reached in 1969
- Change vs 2013
- 0.0%6 in 2019, from 6
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.
Shanon in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sionainn in Irish — same name
Shanons among us
people named Shanon are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Shanon sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It names a real and major river with a genuinely good legend attached.
- Six letters rather than seven, which is the shortest of the four spellings.
- It works for either child, which the record confirms.
- Shannon is the standard spelling and this will be rewritten as it constantly.
- The single n reads as a missing letter rather than as a variant to most readers.
- It is closely tied to one American generation and dates a person fairly precisely.
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Shanon
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Shanons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Shanon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shanon in 2025?
- Shanon is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Shanon with classmates?
- Shanon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Steven#271 · Stephen#383 · Samuel#18 · Scott#534 · Sean#489 · Shawn#681 · Stanley#863 · Steve#1609
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shanon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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