# Sheehan (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/sheehan/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Irish.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Irish |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 26,902 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,305 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 11,477 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (26,107 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Shawhan |

## Etymology

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Síodhacháin (“descendant of Síodhachán”), a personal name derived from a diminutive of síodhach (“peaceful”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Sheehan in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 95% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 0.2% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.2% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Sheehan in the United States.

## People named Sheehan

- Cindy Sheehan, American antiwar activist
- Billy Sheehan, American bassist
- Neil Sheehan, American writer, historian, soldier (1936-2021)
- Doug Sheehan, American actor (1949–2024)
- Winfield Sheehan, American film producer and executive (1883-1945)

## Similar surnames

Shahan, Shaheen, Sheahan, Shehan, Sheen, Sweeney, Snow, Swain, Sun, Swan, Shin, Shen.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.