2000
#693
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 44,902
First available Census row
Per 100,000 16.65
Uncommon Last name
Shannon
An anglicized form of the Irish surname "O Scannlain," meaning "descendant of Scannlán," an old Irish personal name.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 50,490 Americans carry the last name Shannon. That puts it at #767 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 14.73 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 6,789 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Shannon surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Shannon with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
50K
1 in 6,789
Census rank
#767
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
14.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
44K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 44,030 bearers of the surname Shannon in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 14.73 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 767th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Shannon, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Shannon
The surname Shannon is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Seanáin, which means "descendant of Seanán." It originated in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland, during the Middle Ages.
The name Seanán is derived from the Old Irish word "sean," meaning "old" or "ancient," and was likely a nickname given to someone who was considered wise or venerable. The Ó prefix signifies that the person was a descendant of someone named Seanán.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a Seanán mac Geirb in the year 920 AD. The Ó Seanáin clan was based in the Burren region of County Clare, and their territory included the modern-day towns of Kilfenora and Ennistymon.
The anglicized spelling "Shannon" first appeared in the 16th century, as the English administration in Ireland sought to standardize Irish names for record-keeping purposes. Notable historical figures with the surname Shannon include:
1. Donal O'Shannon (c. 1550-1625), an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Shannon clan during the Elizabethan era.
2. James Shannon (1799-1859), an Irish-American painter and portrait artist who worked in New York City.
3. Wilson Shannon (1802-1877), an American lawyer and politician who served as the governor of Ohio and Kansas.
4. Edgar Shannon (1918-1997), an American actor best known for his role as Eddie Haskell in the television series "Leave It to Beaver."
5. Mary Shannon (b. 1938), an English actress and singer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s.
The name Shannon is also associated with several place names in Ireland, including the River Shannon, the longest river in the country, and Shannon Airport, one of the country's major international airports.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shannon
Among Census respondents with the surname Shannon, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Shannon bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Shannon surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.3% · 31,839
- Black or African American19.2% · 8,456
- Two or more races3.9% · 1,726
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 1,544
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 307
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 158
Timeline
Historical Census data for Shannon
Shannon appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#752
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 46,147
+1,245 bearers (+2.8%)
Per 100,000 15.64
Rank movement Down 59 places
2020
#767
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 44,030
-2,117 bearers (-4.6%)
Per 100,000 14.73
Rank movement Down 15 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #693 | 44,902 | 16.65 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #752 | 46,147 | 15.64 | +1,245 bearers (+2.8%) | Down 59 places |
| 2020 | #767 | 44,030 | 14.73 | -2,117 bearers (-4.6%) | Down 15 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Shannon surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #752 | #767 | -2.0% |
| Count | 46,147 | 44,030 | -4.6% |
| Per 100K | 15.64 | 14.73 | -5.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Shannon bearers went from 46,147 to 44,030 (-4.6% change). The surname moved down 15 positions in the national ranking, going from #752 to #767.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Shannon
FAQ
Shannon surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Shannon?
Name Census estimates that about 50,490 living Americans carry the surname Shannon. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 6,789 residents.
How common is Shannon?
Shannon ranks #767 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 14.73 per 100,000 residents, which is about 15 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 44,030 people with the surname Shannon. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (50,490), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 14.73 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 14.73 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 15 of them to have the surname Shannon.
Has Shannon become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Shannon went from 46,147 recorded bearers to 44,030. That is a decrease of 2,117 (-4.6%). In the national ranking it fell from #752 to #767.
What does the Census say about the background of Shannon?
Among Census respondents with the surname Shannon, the largest self-reported group is White at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Shannon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (31,839 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Shannon appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (72.3%), Black (19.2%), Two or More Races (3.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Shannon (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Shannon mean?
An anglicized form of the Irish surname "O Scannlain," meaning "descendant of Scannlán," an old Irish personal name. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Shannon (14.73 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people are called Shannon?
If you just want to know how many Americans have the surname Shannon, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.