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The surname Shannon

An Irish patronymic surname, carried by 46,147 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈʃænən/ 2 syllables Soundex S550 Also a first name

Shannon: #752 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Shannon #752, 46,147 people Shannon: #752 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Shannon #752, 46,147 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Shannon is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

Borrowed from Irish Sionainn.

Shannon is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 46,147 people named Shannon in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,690 Americans. That is up 2.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 44,902.

#752
rank among US surnames
46,147
people in 2010
16
per 100,000 Americans
+2.8%
change since 2000 (was #693)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#743Prince47,1686,546
#744MacDonald46,7176,609
#745Solomon46,5346,635
#746Guevara46,4546,646
#747Stafford46,3946,655
#748English46,3936,655
#749Hurst46,2446,676

Who is named Shannon

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

75% of people named Shannon identified as white (not Hispanic), 20% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

  • White (not Hispanic) 75%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 20%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
  • Two or more races 2.0%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Shannons

16 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Claude Shannon
    American mathematician and information theorist (1916–2001)
  • Michael Shannon
    American actor, born 1974
  • Molly Shannon
    American actress and comedian (born 1964)
  • Peggy Shannon
    American actress (1907–1941)
  • Thomas A. Shannon, Jr.
    American diplomat (born 1958)
  • Ethel Shannon
    Actress (1898-1951)
  • Harry Shannon
    American actor (1890–1964)
  • Terrence Shannon Jr.
    American basketball player (born 2000)
  • Tommy Shannon
    American bass guitarist, born 1946
  • Wilson Shannon
    American politician (Democrat), 1803–1877
  • Effie Shannon
    American actress (1867-1954)
  • Howie Shannon
    American basketball player (1923-1995)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Shannon

Shannon has the Soundex code S550, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S550.

Other Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Shannon come from?
Borrowed from Irish Sionainn.
How common is the surname Shannon?
46,147 people in the United States had the surname Shannon in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,690 Americans. It ranked 752nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Shannon?
In the 2010 Census, 75% of people named Shannon identified as white (not Hispanic), and 20% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Shannon?
Claude Shannon, American mathematician and information theorist (1916–2001), followed by Michael Shannon.
Where is the surname Shannon most common?
Wikidata records people named Shannon in the United States.
How do you pronounce Shannon?
Shannon is /ˈʃænən/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Shannon?
Shannon is a patronymic surname, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.
Is the surname Shannon getting more or less common?
More common. 44,902 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 46,147 in 2010, up 2.8%.
Is Shannon also a first name?
Yes. Shannon is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.