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Shannen

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Variant of Shannon

Shannen has been given to 2,071 babies in the U.S. since 1961. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1993, with 216 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 93% girls, 7% boys all-time.

Babies named Shannen, 2023

1 in 663,000

Shannen over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Shannen over time

In 2023, Shannen went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19612023

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Shannen: meaning, origin, and history

Variant of Shannon

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Shannen means

Shannen is a variant of Shannon.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Shannen is used in English (Modern).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈʃæn.ən/ for Shannen.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Shannon.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,921 girls were recorded with the name Shannen between 1961 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 216 in 1993; its best national rank was #893 in 1993.

In the United States, 150 boys were recorded with the name Shannen between 1966 and 2012. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1991; its best national rank was #3,911 in 1971.

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 Shannen?

Shannen had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,314,783 births
Among girls only
1 in 321,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2023
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
459,528 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Shannen sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2023 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 459,528 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Shannen. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Shannens were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Shannen was born before 1993 — so the typical Shannen is around 32 today.

Median birth year
1993
About 32 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
51.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
20.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,921
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 51.0% of all recorded uses (979).

Is Shannen 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
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1993 (216)
Years since peak
32
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
33.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#893
1993

Spellings of Shannen

Shannen is not the most common spelling — Shannon is, with 73.9% against Shannen's 0.48%.

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 Shannen is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Shannen was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 150,952 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in 100,000
  3. 3Massachusetts1 in 100,000
  4. 4New Jersey1 in 100,000
  5. 5New York1 in 100,000
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in 100,000
  7. 7Connecticut1 in —
  8. 8Georgia1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Shannen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Shannen is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Shannen was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 3,486,540 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 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. Shannen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Shannen around the world

Where Shannen 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
    1996–2008
    #3,860
    in 2008
  • Scotland
    1991–2005
    #687
    in 2005
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2003
    #284
    in 2003
  • Ireland
    1992–2006
    #764
    in 2006
  • France
    1993–2018
    #5,850
    in 2018
  • Canada
    1991–2012
    #3,249
    in 2012
  • South Australia
    1986–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, 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. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Shannen by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#893
1993
Peak year
1993
216 that year
First recorded
1961
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
1,921
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,911
1971
Peak year
1991
10 that year
First recorded
1966
Last recorded
2012
All-time count
150
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Shannen

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

ShaniahShaylinShaylynShantalShaindyShamiraShanayaShaelynShaelynnShantiShamayaShamyaShanellShanenShaylynnShanelShalayaShayneShalomShaniyahShaniyaShalonShawanaShaila

Sibling names for Shannen

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 Shannen

Top names of 1993, Shannen's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1993Girls' names starting with S