Shawn
Shawn was given to 399 boys in 2025, #682 among boys’ names; 339,597 Americans have been recorded with it since 1931 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 309,000 Americans named Shawn and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 48 years old and half are between 36 and 55.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Shawn by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Shawn mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Shawn is “Alternative form of Shaun, a unisex given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “God is gracious” (literally).
A variant of Sean, from Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Jōhannēs, variant of Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (yōḥānān, yokhanán, literally “God is gracious”). Doublet of Evan, Giovanni, Ian, Ivan, Jack, Jean, Johan, Johann, Johannes, John, Juan, Sean, Shane, and Shaun as a male name. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena as a female name.
/ʃɔːn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Shawn?
#682 among boys’ names, 2025
Shawn fell from #352 in 2015 to #682 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.50 to 0.23 per 1,000.
14,688 babies in 1971, the peak
Shawn peaked in 1971, when 14,688 babies were given it (12,825 boys, #28 among boys’ names). The 412 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 3% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 399 | #682 | 0.23 |
| 2024 | 440 | #638 | 0.26 |
| 2023 | 438 | #633 | 0.26 |
| 2022 | 523 | #568 | 0.30 |
| 2021 | 587 | #501 | 0.34 |
| 2020 | 659 | #452 | 0.38 |
| 2019 | 723 | #426 | 0.40 |
| 2018 | 814 | #390 | 0.45 |
| 2017 | 830 | #387 | 0.45 |
| 2016 | 946 | #356 | 0.50 |
Every recorded year (91)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 962 | #352 | 0.50 |
| 2014 | 1,068 | #322 | 0.56 |
| 2013 | 1,122 | #307 | 0.59 |
| 2012 | 1,301 | #273 | 0.69 |
| 2011 | 1,431 | #247 | 0.75 |
| 2010 | 1,476 | #236 | 0.77 |
| 2009 | 1,809 | #209 | 0.91 |
| 2008 | 2,067 | #193 | 1.0 |
| 2007 | 2,349 | #175 | 1.1 |
| 2006 | 2,476 | #168 | 1.2 |
| 2005 | 2,372 | #174 | 1.2 |
| 2004 | 2,409 | #169 | 1.2 |
| 2003 | 2,576 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 2002 | 2,618 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 2001 | 2,628 | #151 | 1.4 |
| 2000 | 2,894 | #135 | 1.5 |
| 1999 | 3,100 | #117 | 1.6 |
| 1998 | 3,257 | #113 | 1.7 |
| 1997 | 3,449 | #109 | 1.8 |
| 1996 | 3,505 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 1995 | 3,824 | #100 | 2.0 |
| 1994 | 4,245 | #86 | 2.2 |
| 1993 | 4,814 | #77 | 2.5 |
| 1992 | 5,153 | #71 | 2.6 |
| 1991 | 5,415 | #71 | 2.7 |
| 1990 | 5,721 | #69 | 2.8 |
| 1989 | 5,479 | #65 | 2.7 |
| 1988 | 5,893 | #61 | 3.1 |
| 1987 | 6,202 | #59 | 3.3 |
| 1986 | 7,018 | #55 | 3.8 |
| 1985 | 6,982 | #55 | 3.8 |
| 1984 | 6,049 | #56 | 3.4 |
| 1983 | 6,359 | #53 | 3.5 |
| 1982 | 6,842 | #52 | 3.8 |
| 1981 | 7,076 | #49 | 4.0 |
| 1980 | 7,698 | #47 | 4.3 |
| 1979 | 7,910 | #43 | 4.6 |
| 1978 | 9,289 | #39 | 5.7 |
| 1977 | 9,865 | #37 | 6.0 |
| 1976 | 10,108 | #34 | 6.4 |
| 1975 | 10,682 | #31 | 6.8 |
| 1974 | 11,438 | #30 | 7.3 |
| 1973 | 11,451 | #27 | 7.3 |
| 1972 | 11,277 | #28 | 7.0 |
| 1971 | 12,825 | #28 | 7.3 |
| 1970 | 10,945 | #34 | 5.9 |
| 1969 | 8,267 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1968 | 7,478 | #43 | 4.3 |
| 1967 | 6,138 | #51 | 3.5 |
| 1966 | 5,725 | #54 | 3.2 |
| 1965 | 4,924 | #69 | 2.6 |
| 1964 | 4,403 | #88 | 2.2 |
| 1963 | 3,461 | #108 | 1.7 |
| 1962 | 2,866 | #124 | 1.4 |
| 1961 | 2,488 | #143 | 1.2 |
| 1960 | 2,045 | #163 | 1.0 |
| 1959 | 1,976 | #161 | 0.93 |
| 1958 | 1,183 | #223 | 0.56 |
| 1957 | 910 | #251 | 0.42 |
| 1956 | 569 | #312 | 0.27 |
| 1955 | 548 | #312 | 0.27 |
| 1954 | 429 | #343 | 0.21 |
| 1953 | 343 | #369 | 0.17 |
| 1952 | 189 | #508 | 0.10 |
| 1951 | 138 | #593 | 0.07 |
| 1950 | 175 | #507 | 0.10 |
| 1949 | 132 | #593 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 143 | #560 | 0.08 |
| 1947 | 57 | #935 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 22 | #1,550 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 17 | #1,684 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 13 | #2,069 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 27 | #1,361 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 19 | #1,674 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 16 | #1,811 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 13 | #2,067 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 11 | #2,271 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 10 | #2,463 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 8 | #2,880 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 5 | #3,981 | under 0.01 |
| 1931 | 6 | #3,697 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Shawn a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 339,597 Americans recorded as Shawn, 10% are girls and 90% boys. In 2025 it went to 13 girls and 399 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Shawn: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Shawn, and how old are they?
309,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 339,597 Americans ever recorded as Shawn. The median Shawn alive today is 48 years old; half are between 36 and 55.
The 2020 Census counted 279,685 people named Shawn (26,670 women and girls, 253,015 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 314,268 born in the U.S. The Census count is 11% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 81 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 24,300 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 148,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 88,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 38,100 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 9,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Shawn born?
The states with the most babies named Shawn are California, Pennsylvania and New York, with 23% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 30,066 | #698 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 24,260 | #425 | 1.5× |
| New York | 23,460 | #635 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 21,335 | #511 | 1.3× |
| Texas | 16,499 | #773 | 0.6× |
| Michigan | 14,732 | #442 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 14,073 | #1,001 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 13,741 | #646 | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 9,832 | #775 | 1.1× |
| Indiana | 9,564 | #575 | 1.1× |
Where Shawn is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Shawn is most over-represented in Maine: since 1931 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Shawn with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 339,953 babies since 1880, Shawn is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 412 of their 412 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Shawn
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1930-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Brian | 1,178,298 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Shawn and names like it
- Compare Shawn and ShawonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sShawn peaked in 1971.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Shawn since 1910.
- The top names of 1971The year the most babies were named Shawn.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Shawn alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with SMost given first.