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Seamus

#1,280 in 2025Boys' name

Supplanter, heel-grabber, through Séamas

Seamus has been given to 7,809 babies in the U.S. since 1957. In 2025 it ranked #1,280 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 298 recorded.

Babies named Seamus, 2025

1 in 21,500

Seamus over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Seamus: meaning, origin, and history

Supplanter, heel-grabber, through Séamas

Irish

What Seamus means

Seamus belongs to the name family reached through Seamus → Séamas → James → James → Iacomus. Its meaning is “supplanter, heel-grabber”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Anglicization of Irish Séamas (“James”), itself from English James.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Seamus (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Seamus is used in English. Its origins include Irish.

Seamus comes through Irish Séamas and English James.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Séamas, James and Iacomus.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Seamus is pronounced /ˈʃeɪməs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,809 boys were recorded with the name Seamus between 1957 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 298 in 2008; its best national rank was #735 in 2003.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,195 in 2020 to #1,280 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #946 in 2015 to #1,280 in 2025.

How common is Seamus?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 21,500
154 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 11,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,280
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
14,923 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Seamus sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5002%

Put another way: gather 14,923 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Seamus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Seamuss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Seamus was born before 2007 — so the typical Seamus is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
31.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
69.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
7,809
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 31.3% of all recorded uses (2,446).

Is Seamus rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+177
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−85
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−334
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.70×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
51.7%
Peak was 2008 (298)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
8.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#735
2003

Spellings of Seamus

Seamus is the most-used spelling, taking 66.8% of the 11,683 babies given a near-identical spelling.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Seamus is used

Across 2016–2025, Seamus was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in 1,724 boys, against 1 in 10,500 across all states with data. It was least common in Georgia (1 in 100,000).

158 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Massachusetts1 in 1,724
  2. 2New Hampshire1 in 3,704
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 4,167
  4. 4Connecticut1 in 4,762
  5. 5New Jersey1 in 5,556
  6. 6New York1 in 6,250
  7. 7Maine1 in 6,667
  8. 8Washington1 in 6,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Seamus around the world

Where Seamus ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,538
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1987–2025
    #400
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2025
    #185
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    1964–2025
    #147
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,390
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1951–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Seamus

People whose public names include Seamus, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Seamus in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Seamus. Linked forms have their own page here.

JimDiegoJakubJamesYacobYakovYakubJacopoSeamasJacobusJacquesSantiagoJaumeNetasYakupGretisIacopoJaakkoNʹētasSéamasJokūbasNyethus

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Seamus by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,280
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 85
Best rank ever
#735
2003
Peak year
2008
298 that year
First recorded
1957
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,809
Count in 2025
154

Names similar to Seamus

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ShamusMaximusSeagerRemusArtemusSheamusSeabornSeannSearcyDelmusRasmusSeaverSeatonNicodemusSeanMaxximusSeanpaulPrimusArtimusSeabronSearsDecimusElmusSearle

Names with a curve like Seamus

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Seamus, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

ReaganGiancarloEanIsaiJovaniJustusKoleTristianKamronZechariahUlisesAdrien

Sibling names for Seamus

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Seamus

Top names of 2008, Seamus's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2003Boys' names starting with SIrish Boy NamesIrish NamesJames & Jacob Variations & Nicknames