Seann
An Irish name meaning "old" or "ancient one".
Name Census estimates that about 496 living Americans carry the first name Seann. It is a predominantly male name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Seann today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seann births was 1982 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seann. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Seann with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
496
~ 1 in 691,037 Americans
Peak year
1982
26 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,867
Tracked since 1966
Census
Seann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 596 people with the first name Seann, which placed it at #18,169 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,169
National first-name rank
People counted
596
596 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seann is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Seann described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Seann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.0% · 429
- Black or African American8.6% · 51
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 42
- Two or more races6.2% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Seann
Out of the 522 babies given the name Seann since 1880, 99.0% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Seann as a male name
- Ranked #13,867 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1982 (26 births)
Seann as a female name
- Ranked #14,922 in 1991
- 5 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seann leans strongly male. 529 people counted with this name were male (88.8%), compared with 67 female bearers (11.2%).
Popularity
Seann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seann from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 153 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Seann by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Seann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seanns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seann
The name Seann has its origins in the Gaelic and Irish languages, tracing back to the 5th century CE. It is derived from the Old Irish word "sean," meaning "old" or "ancient." The name was prevalent in the Celtic regions of Ireland, Scotland, and parts of England during the Middle Ages.
In ancient Irish literature, the name appears in several texts, including the Annals of Ulster and the Annals of the Four Masters. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Seann Ua Maoilchiarain, an Irish scribe and monk who lived in the 11th century.
During the medieval period, the name was borne by several notable figures in Irish and Scottish history. Seann Mac Ruaidhrí was an Irish chieftain and King of Connacht in the 12th century. Seann Mag Shamhradháin was an Irish poet and historian who lived in the 15th century.
In the 16th century, Seann O'Neill was an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Neill clan, known for his resistance against English rule in Ireland. Another prominent figure was Seann MacDonald, a Scottish clan chief and military leader who played a significant role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the 17th century.
During the 18th century, Seann Mac Aoidh was an Irish poet and scholar from County Donegal, renowned for his contributions to the preservation of Gaelic literature and culture.
Over the centuries, the name has undergone various spellings and variations, such as Sean, Shawn, Shaun, and Seán, reflecting the linguistic diversity and regional influences within the Celtic regions. Despite its ancient roots, the name Seann has remained popular and continues to be used in modern times, carrying the rich cultural heritage of the Gaelic and Irish traditions.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Seann
People
Seann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seann as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Seann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 496 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seann going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 691,037 US residents.
Is Seann a common name?
We classify Seann as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seann most popular?
The single biggest year for Seann was 1982, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seann is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 596 people with the name Seann, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,169 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Seann in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Seann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seann leans strongly male. 529 people counted with this name were male (88.8%), compared with 67 female bearers (11.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Seann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seann is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Seann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Seann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (429 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Seann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seann a male name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Seann in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Seann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seann in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Seann can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Seann?
See how many people share the name Seann on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.