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Shamus

#8,799 in 2025Boys' name

Form of Séamus

Shamus has been given to 1,778 babies in the U.S. since 1959. In 2025 it ranked #8,799 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 72 recorded.

Babies named Shamus, 2025

1 in 368,000

Shamus over time, 1880–2025

Boys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Shamus: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Séamus

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Shamus means

Shamus is a form of Séamus.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Séamus.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,778 boys were recorded with the name Shamus between 1959 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 72 in 2007; its best national rank was #1,165 in 1975.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #11,805 in 2020 to #8,799 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #5,028 in 2015 to #8,799 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Shamus?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 190,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#8,799
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shamus 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shamus. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shamuss were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shamus was born before 1996 — so the typical Shamus is around 29 today.

Median birth year
1996
About 29 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
28.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
40.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,778
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 28.2% of all recorded uses (502).

Is Shamus 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
+3,006
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−3,771
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.47×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
12.5%
Peak was 2007 (72)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,165
1975

Spellings of Shamus

Shamus is not the most common spelling — Shaun is, with 76.4% against Shamus's 1.9%.

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 Shamus is used

Across 1910–2025, Shamus was most concentrated in Massachusetts — about 1 in 50,000 boys, against 1 in 235,885 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Massachusetts1 in 50,000
  2. 2New York1 in 100,000
  3. 3Pennsylvania1 in 100,000
  4. 4California1 in —
  5. 5Florida1 in —
  6. 6Iowa1 in —
  7. 7Ohio1 in —
  8. 8Texas1 in —

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. Shamus has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shamus around the world

Where Shamus 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
    1996–2022
    #4,790
    in 2022
  • Ireland
    1981–1988
    #319
    in 1988
  • Canada
    1991–2020
    #2,945
    in 2020
  • South Australia
    1971–2012
    #514
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Shamus by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,799
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 3,006
Best rank ever
#1,165
1975
Peak year
2007
72 that year
First recorded
1959
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,778
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Shamus

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

ShakurShamirShayanSharodShalomShakirSharifShayaShauryaShahidShaquanShadowShaanShainShareefShadeShaheedShamarShanonShaydenShaymusShakeemShantShayaan

Sibling names for Shamus

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 Shamus

Top names of 2007, Shamus's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1975Boys' names starting with S