Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Sean?
Births per year, rank history and how many Seans are alive today.
Sean (male), once a common boys' name, is now an uncommon choice for new babies in England and Wales, ranked 615th in 2025 with 61 given the name. This spelling of the name peaked in 1964, when around 3,500 babies were given the name, the 36th most popular that year. It has declined since 1964; the 2025 figure is roughly 2% of its peak. Numbers have been falling in recent years. At least 80,000 babies have been named Sean in England and Wales since 1964. Figures before 1996 are estimates. Sean is one spelling of a name also recorded as Shaun and Shawn; the combined figures below cover every spelling.
Across all spellings of the name, the Sean you are most likely to meet is around 62 years old - or else around 30: the name has two living generations. Half of all Seans born in England and Wales are between 33 and 61, and there are at least 100,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's roughly a 28% chance that at least one of them will be called Sean.
How many babies are named Sean each year?
Includes all spellings: Sean, Shaun, Shawn. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
Where does the Sean spelling rank?
Where does the Shaun spelling rank?
Where does the Shawn spelling rank?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Sean most popular?
Sean peaked in 1964, when around 3,500 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.
How many people are called Sean?
At least 100,000 people named Sean in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Sean?
Most living Seans are between 33 and 61; the most common age is about 62. There is a second cluster around 30.
Is Sean becoming more or less popular?
Declining: recent figures are a fraction of the 1964 peak.