Sean Penn
There are approximately 27 people named Sean Penn living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 12,694,605 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Sean with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Penn. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
27
1 in 12,694,605
Named Sean
404K
Alive today
Named Penn
23K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 404K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1990
Average age: 39
Estimated bearers: 23K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #1,849
Per 100K: 6.58
Top ancestry: White (50.6%)
First name trend
Sean: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Sean. The peak year was 1990 with 12,070 births. The average person named Sean today is 39 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Penn surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Penn, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 50.6%.
- White50.6%
- Black or African American38.5%
- Hispanic or Latino4.5%
- Two or more races3.4%
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Sean has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1178% of the US population, based on 403,789 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Penn appears at a rate of 6.58 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0066%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 27 people with the full name Sean Penn. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Sean
Related
Other people with the surname Penn
FAQ
Sean Penn: questions and answers
How many people are named Sean Penn?
We estimate approximately 27 people in the United States share the full name Sean Penn. That works out to about 1 in 12,694,605 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1178%) with the surname frequency (6.58 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Sean Penn?
We classify Sean Penn as "Very Rare". About 1 in 12,694,605 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Sean a male or female name?
Sean is predominantly male. Out of 425,998 total SSA registrations, 99.3% were male and 0.7% were female. See the full Sean profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.