Siobhan
Feminine · “God is gracious”
Siobhán is the Irish of Joan — so it is John, and the Hebrew behind it says God is gracious — and the spelling defeats nearly everyone.
How old is the name Siobhan?
Siobhan first appears in US birth records in 1956 — 69 years ago. The typical Siobhan alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 7,100 people named Siobhan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Siobhan most popular?
Siobhan peaked in 1979, reaching #628 nationally. Today it ranks #2076, 1,448 places below that high. See the whole 1979 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Siobhan
The story of Siobhan
The Normans brought Jehanne to Ireland and Irish reshaped it as Siobhán, which has been in continuous use ever since. Siobhán McKenna was among the great Irish actresses of the twentieth century. The name appears in American records in current use, spelling difficulties and all.
Meaning
God is gracious
From the Anglo-Norman Jehanne, a form of Joan, itself the feminine of John, from the Hebrew Yochanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. Irish took it as Siobhán, where bh is pronounced v. The chain of descent is documented and the Hebrew undisputed.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Jehanne
- Siobhán
Related forms: Siobhán · Shevaun · Joan
Pronouncing Siobhan
shiv-AWN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Irish bh is a v sound, which the spelling gives no hint of in English.
Nicknames for Siobhan
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
- 1956
- Most girls named
- 1980282 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #628reached in 1979
- Change vs 2024
- −12.6%90 in 2025, from 103
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.
Siobhan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Siobhán in Irish — same name
- Shevaun in English — spelling variant
- Joan in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Siobhans among us
people named Siobhan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,859 born in 2025 was named Siobhan
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 Vincenza test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Siobhan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Vincenza climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Vincenza's path sketches the road Siobhan is walking now.
Siobhan 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 Siobhan is headed
Siobhan looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 28% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Siobhan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Siobhan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The God-is-gracious meaning is transparent and undisputed.
- It belongs to the most productive name family in European history.
- It is unmistakably and genuinely Irish.
- The spelling gives English speakers no guide to the sound at all.
- It will be mispronounced on first sight essentially always.
- Several phonetic respellings are in circulation.
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What they receive
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Siobhan
Feminine · #2076 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Siobhans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,100 people named Siobhan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Siobhan in 2025?
- Siobhan ranks #2076 among US girl names in 2025, with 90 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Siobhan?
- About 1 in every 17,859 US girls born in 2025 was named Siobhan — 90 in all.
- Will my child share the name Siobhan with classmates?
- Siobhan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Siobhan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Everlynn#2076 · Scotland#2076 · Iylah#2076 · Blayke#2076 · Acelynn#2076 · Lilyann#2076 · Taliah#2076 · Shaindy#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Siobhan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Siobhan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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