Mostly girls · peaked in 1976
Shannon name popularity since 1925
347,739 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Shannon (85.0% girls, 15.0% boys). Half of them were born in 1978 or earlier, so the typical Shannon is about 48 years old in 2026. Shannon peaked in 1976 as the #17 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 347,739
- Named Shannon, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,405 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 85.0% girls
- 295,725 girls · 52,014 boys
- Most popular in
- Alaska
- 1.81× its national share
Peak year is the year Shannon made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Shannon births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1970. Measured as a share of all babies, Shannon peaked in 1976.
- Fastest rise: Between 1965 and 1970, Shannon became 5.3× more common, from 1 in 687 baby girls to 1 in 129.
- Steepest fall: Between 2002 and 2007, its share of baby girls fell by 61%, from 1 in 1,020 to 1 in 2,590.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Shannon's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Shannon.
Decade by decade
Babies named Shannon in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 70 | 120 | – |
| 1930s | 372 | 297 | #1,300 |
| 1940s | 1,557 | 596 | #686 |
| 1950s | 6,100 | 1,444 | #336 |
| 1960s | 33,850 | 9,851 | #144 |
| 1970s | 113,793 | 24,649 | #21 |
| 1980s | 78,420 | 8,119 | #41 |
| 1990s | 45,912 | 3,846 | #73 |
| 2000s | 12,458 | 1,932 | #303 |
| 2010s | 2,586 | 849 | #1,063 |
| 2020–25 | 607 | 311 | #2,405 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
52.5% of babies named Shannon from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Shannon is most popular
The index compares Shannon's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Shannon.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 1.81× | 926 |
| Hawaii | 1.56× | 1,685 |
| Wyoming | 1.45× | 677 |
| Oregon | 1.39× | 4,486 |
| Delaware | 1.36× | 977 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Shannon and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Shannon (this page) | 295,725 | 1976 |
| Shannan | 5,162 | 1969 |
| Shanon | 4,817 | 1970 |
| Shannen | 1,921 | 1993 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Shannon's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Shannon.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Shannon (1976).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data