boys' name ★ peaked 1990

Sean

Gender Boy · 1% girls Rank 2025 #489 Trend ↓ Falling 37%

Sean, also spelled Seán in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish and English origin.

Rank 2025
#489
among boys · ↓54 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
623
named Sean · -16% vs 2024
How common
1 in 2,773
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1990
12,070 babies
All-time total
426,606
#80 all-time among boys
First recorded
1925
in Social Security records

Sean popularity over time

426,606 babies have been named Sean since 1925, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.883.755.637.518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – 12 12 1 – #3,685
1930s 5 101 106 11 +783% #1,571
1940s 17 659 676 68 +538% #603
1950s 137 5,452 5,589 559 +727% #219
1960s 463 47,282 47,745 4,775 +754% #37
1970s 588 83,819 84,407 8,441 +77% #33
1980s 810 103,870 104,680 10,468 +24% #37
1990s 587 92,003 92,590 9,259 -12% #37
2000s 273 64,133 64,406 6,441 -30% #57
2010s 66 21,540 21,606 2,161 -66% #102
2020s (to 2025) 23 4,766 4,789 798 -63% #334

Where Sean is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 569 0.33 outside top 500
2027 532 0.31 outside top 500
2028 503 0.29 outside top 500
2029 479 0.28 outside top 500
2030 459 0.27 outside top 500

Where Sean is most popular

Boys named Sean per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.439 per 1,000. Strongest in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Sean born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Massachusetts 146 1.06 +142%
New Jersey 194 0.964 +120%
Connecticut 60 0.886 +102%
New Hampshire 19 0.856 +95%
Maryland 98 0.822 +87%
New York 331 0.764 +74%
District of Columbia 11 0.745 +70%
Pennsylvania 197 0.742 +69%
Virginia 132 0.696 +59%
Florida 288 0.608 +39%
Colorado 73 0.566 +29%
Washington 84 0.513 +17%
Illinois 128 0.501 +14%
North Carolina 119 0.466 +6%
Michigan 95 0.464 +6%
South Carolina 47 0.455 ≈ national
Georgia 114 0.450 ≈ national
Ohio 118 0.445 ≈ national
California 404 0.442 ≈ national
Rhode Island 7 0.429 ≈ national
Indiana 68 0.424 ≈ national
Kansas 29 0.423 ≈ national
Oklahoma 36 0.407 -7%
Missouri 56 0.404 -8%
Minnesota 48 0.391 -11%
Oregon 29 0.382 -13%
Tennessee 68 0.377 -14%
Arizona 60 0.367 -16%
Texas 317 0.360 -18%
Nevada 20 0.351 -20%
Delaware 5 0.330 -25%
Alabama 36 0.329 -25%
Utah 31 0.325 -26%
Kentucky 32 0.319 -27%
Wisconsin 33 0.279 -37%
Louisiana 28 0.274 -38%
Mississippi 15 0.264 -40%
Arkansas 11 0.174 -60%
Nebraska 7 0.161 -63%
Iowa 10 0.145 -67%
Idaho 5 0.122 -72%
Alaska – – –
Hawaii – – –
Maine – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Mexico – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Sean

Sean is moderately common for boys in the United States, ranked #489 in 2025 with 616 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1925, 426,606 American babies have been named Sean. Its peak came in 1990, when 12,070 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1990s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Sean stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Sean?

The median living Sean is about 37 years old; half are between 27 and 49. An estimated 403 thousand people named Sean are alive in the United States today.

median 37 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Sean year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 7 #12,971 616 #489
2024 8 #11,985 730 #435
2023 – – 741 #427
2022 – – 803 #397
2021 – – 900 #362
2020 8 #11,973 976 #334
2019 – – 1,128 #301
2018 5 #17,727 1,325 #268
2017 – – 1,481 #251
2016 6 #15,928 1,671 #234
2015 7 #14,268 1,895 #210
2014 – – 2,125 #193
2013 14 #8,509 2,203 #185
2012 14 #8,559 2,777 #145
2011 9 #11,991 3,192 #125
2010 11 #10,355 3,743 #102
2009 13 #9,306 4,339 #97
2008 27 #5,410 5,471 #83
2007 10 #11,489 6,244 #76
2006 21 #6,312 6,643 #68
2005 27 #4,939 5,997 #75
2004 30 #4,591 6,769 #64
2003 35 #3,937 7,102 #61
2002 25 #4,876 7,028 #59
2001 35 #3,769 7,224 #57
2000 50 #2,893 7,316 #57
1995 54 #2,416 8,167 #45
1990 52 #2,395 12,018 #37
1985 98 #1,347 11,455 #38
1980 51 #2,058 7,596 #48
1975 62 #1,601 7,582 #40
1970 76 #1,385 10,341 #37
1965 38 #1,881 4,594 #79
1960 22 #2,633 1,421 #202
1955 12 #3,542 488 #336
1950 10 #3,632 162 #536
1945 – – 50 #912
1940 – – 35 #1,128
1935 – – 12 #2,230
1930 – – 7 #3,541
1925 – – 7 #3,685
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Sean

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Sean Combs Sean Combs American rapper and producer (born 1969) Contemporary
  2. 2 Sean Penn Sean Penn American actor and filmmaker (born 1960) Contemporary
  3. 3 Sean Connery Sean Connery Scottish actor (1930–2020) Contemporary
  4. 4 Sean Astin Sean Astin American actor (born 1971) Contemporary
  5. 5 Sean Bean Sean Bean British actor (born 1959) Contemporary
  6. 6 Sean Lennon Sean Lennon British and American musician (born 1975) Contemporary
  7. 7 Sean Young Sean Young American actress (born 1959) Contemporary
  8. 8 Sean Dyche Sean Dyche English football manager (born 1971) Contemporary
  9. 9 Sean Paul Sean Paul Jamaican rapper (born 1973) Contemporary
  10. 10 Sean Hannity Sean Hannity American television host and political commentator (born 1961) Contemporary
  11. 11 Sean Gunn Sean Gunn American actor (born 1974) Contemporary
  12. 12 Sean Hayes Sean Hayes American actor (born 1970) Contemporary
  13. 13 Sean Parker Sean Parker American entrepreneur and philanthropist (born 1979) Contemporary
  14. 14 Sean Kingston Sean Kingston American-Jamaican singer (born 1990) Contemporary
  15. 15 Sean Murray Sean Murray American actor (born 1977) Contemporary
  16. 16 Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery American actor (born 1965) Contemporary
  17. 17 Sean Harris Sean Harris British actor (born 1966) Contemporary
  18. 18 Sean Waltman Sean Waltman American professional wrestler (born 1972) Contemporary
  19. 19 Sean Pertwee Sean Pertwee English actor (born 1964) Contemporary
  20. 20 Sean Patrick Thomas Sean Patrick Thomas American actor b. 1970 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Sean, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Sean?

The median living Sean is about 37 years old. Half of all living Seans are between 27 and 49 years old.

How many people named Sean are alive today?

An estimated 403 thousand people named Sean are alive in the United States, based on 426,606 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Sean mean?

Sean, also spelled Seán in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish and English origin.

How popular is the name Sean in 2025?

Sean ranked #489 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 616 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Sean?

426,606 babies have been named Sean in the United States since 1925, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Sean most popular?

Sean peaked in 1990, when 12,070 newborns received the name.

Is Sean a boy or girl name?

Sean is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Sean rising or falling?

Sean is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Sean become more popular?

Sean is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 459 boys named Sean in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Sean?

Well-known people named Sean include Sean Combs (musician), Sean Penn (actor), Sean Connery (actor).

Names like Sean

Names that sound and feel close to Sean: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Sean with similar names → More names starting with S →