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Boy · Irish, from Hebrew
Shane
Say it: SHAYN
Meaning
An Anglicized spelling of Irish Seaghán (Seán), the Irish form of John, from Hebrew Yochanan 'God is gracious'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Long used in Ireland as an English spelling of Seán, it became popular in the US after the 1953 western film Shane.
Its wave through time
A fashion of the 1970s
In the United States
- 193,476 babies given this name since 1933
- At its height in 1973, about 1 in 273 boys
- 573 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Shayne, Shain
| Irish | Seán |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Shane O'Neill, 16th-century Irish chieftain
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Irish annals and early Irish literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.