Sean

Updated: October 14, 2023 by Stephanie Graham

Sean remains a top 1,000 baby name in the United States, but it's not as popular as it was in the 1960s through the 2000s. It's possible, Sean Connery, the hunky actor who played James Bond from 1962 to 1983 had some influence on that. American fascination with Irish culture could also play a role in the name's popularity over the years — it's one of the top 100 names for baby boys in Ireland after all.

Meaning and Origin of the name Sean:

Sean is an Irish name meaning “God is gracious.”

Sean is the Irish version of the English name John, the Scottish name Ian, and the French name Jean, which are all variations of the Hebrew name Yohanan (meaning “Yahweh is gracious” or “God is gracious”). It came to Ireland after the Norman Conquest. The Irish most likely got the name from the French Jean. The Irish alphabet doesn't have the letter “j,” so the letter “s” was substituted to create the name Sean.

Symbolism of the name Sean:

Sean may have deep spiritual meaning to those of the Christian faith since it was derived from the name John. In the Bible, John was one of Jesus's disciples and is now known as “Saint John the Beloved.”

Nicknames for the name Sean:

There really isn't a way to shorten the name Sean because it is already such a short name. But that doesn't mean there aren't nicknames for Sean. We have put together the list below of fun and cute nicknames that you may want to consider for your baby boy or baby girl.