Vashon
Masculine
Vashon is given to both — 767 boys and 69 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Vashon puts a V where most of its cousins have a J or a D. The ending is the one American naming built on Shaun — the Irish Seán, reached by way of English spelling — and the front is a single consonant and a vowel, which is all the room a name of this kind needs. It also happens to be an island in Puget Sound, named for a British admiral.
How old is the name Vashon?
Vashon first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Vashon alive today was born around 1991, making them about 34 years old. About 700 people named Vashon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vashon most popular?
Vashon peaked in 1973, reaching #804 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 11,204 places below that high. See the whole 1973 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Seán to Vashon
The story of Vashon
The set of names built on the Shaun ending is large and arrived together in the second half of the twentieth century — Dashon, Rashon, Lashon, Vashon, each with a different opening consonant and each a distinct name to the family that chose it. Vashon is one of the less common openings, which is much of its appeal: it sounds like it belongs to the group while not being one of the two or three everyone has met. Its record shows a sharp early rise and a long quiet afterward, which is the ordinary shape for a name that spreads by hearing rather than by inheritance.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name has no documented meaning. Its second half descends, at a distance, from the Irish Seán and so from John — God is gracious — but that is the ending's history rather than this name's. There is also a Vashon Island in Washington State, named by George Vancouver for a Royal Navy captain he had served under; nothing links the island to the American given name.
How the name formed
- Seán
- Shaun
- Vashon
Pronouncing Vashon
vuh-SHON
Two syllables with the stress at the back. The first is light. The o is short, closer to the vowel in gone than to the one in lawn, though families differ.
Nicknames for Vashon
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
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 197396 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #804reached in 1973
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
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.
Vashons among us
people named Vashon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Vashon
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 Brion test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Vashon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Brion climbed just as high around 1957, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Brion's path sketches the road Vashon is walking now.
Vashon 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
Vashon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vashon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The V opening is uncommon in this family of names, which makes it distinctive without being strange.
- Both halves shorten cleanly, and the two short forms sound nothing alike.
- Six letters, two syllables, and nothing an English reader has to be taught.
- Vashawn and Vashaun compete for the same sound and will be written by mistake.
- There is no meaning to give, only the history of the ending it belongs to.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy, though the same ending appears on women's names.
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What they receive
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Vashon
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Vashons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Vashon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vashon in 2025?
- Vashon ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vashon?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Vashon — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vashon with classmates?
- Vashon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vashon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vashon? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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