NameCensus.

UK surname

Shannon

An anglicized form of the Irish surname "O Scannlain," meaning "descendant of Scannlán," an old Irish personal name.

In the 1881 census there were 2,314 people recorded with the Shannon surname, ranking it #1,928 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 5,286, ranked #1,278, up from #1,928 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Govan Combination and Toxteth Park. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Swansea, Central Easterhouse and Halton.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Shannon is 5,350 in 2014. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 128.4%.

1881 census count

2,314

Ranked #1,928

Modern count

5,286

2016, ranked #1,278

Peak year

2014

5,350 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Shannon had 2,314 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #1,928 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 5,286 in 2016, ranked #1,278.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 3,016 in 1901.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Established but Challenged.

Shannon surname distribution map

The map shows where the Shannon surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Shannon surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Shannon over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 1,002 #2,791
1861 historical 1,147 #2,449
1881 historical 2,314 #1,928
1891 historical 2,131 #2,185
1901 historical 3,016 #1,856
1911 historical 2,311 #2,199
1997 modern 4,895 #1,337
1998 modern 5,076 #1,339
1999 modern 5,105 #1,344
2000 modern 5,028 #1,354
2001 modern 4,915 #1,354
2002 modern 5,020 #1,351
2003 modern 4,865 #1,360
2004 modern 4,938 #1,334
2005 modern 4,914 #1,324
2006 modern 4,916 #1,331
2007 modern 5,002 #1,319
2008 modern 4,954 #1,343
2009 modern 5,158 #1,320
2010 modern 5,302 #1,312
2011 modern 5,227 #1,313
2012 modern 5,172 #1,298
2013 modern 5,320 #1,286
2014 modern 5,350 #1,286
2015 modern 5,285 #1,287
2016 modern 5,286 #1,278

Geography

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Where Shannons are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Govan Combination, Toxteth Park and Gateshead. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Swansea, Central Easterhouse, Halton, Annan East and Liverpool. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 London parishes London 1
2 Govan Combination Lanark
3 Toxteth Park Lancashire
4 Gateshead Durham
5 London parishes London 3

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Swansea 019 Swansea
2 Central Easterhouse Glasgow City
3 Halton 015 Halton
4 Annan East Dumfries and Galloway
5 Liverpool 029 Liverpool

Forenames

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First names often paired with Shannon

These lists show first names that appear often with the Shannon surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Shannon

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Shannon, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce

Group

Established but Challenged

Nationally, the Shannon surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Established but Challenged, within Semi- and Un-Skilled Workforce. This does not mean every Shannon household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Many households in these neighbourhoods comprise separated or divorced single parents with dependent children. Residents are typically born in the UK, and these neighbourhoods have relatively few members of ethnic minorities. The prevalence of children, their parents and those at or above normal retirement age, suggests neighbourhood structures may be long-established. Levels of unpaid care are high, and long-term disability is more common than in the Supergroup as a whole. Use of the social rented sector is common, often in terraced houses. Levels of overcrowding are above the Supergroup average. Unemployment is high, while those in work are employed in elementary occupations such as caring, leisure and customer services. Many residents have low level qualifications. Neighbourhood concentrations of this Group are found in the South Wales Valleys, Belfast, Londonderry and the Central Lowlands of Scotland.

Wider pattern

Living in terraced or semi-detached houses, residents of these neighbourhoods typically lack high levels of education and work in elementary or routine service occupations. Unemployment is above average. Residents are predominantly born in the UK, and residents are also predominantly from ethnic minorities. Social (but not private sector) rented sector housing is common. This Supergroup is found throughout the UK’s conurbations and industrial regions but is also an integral part of smaller towns.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Shannon is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Shannon is most concentrated in decile 10 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname towards the healthier end of the index.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

10
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Shannon falls in decile 1 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the more deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

1
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Shannon is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - Irish

This describes the area pattern most associated with Shannon, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Shannon

The surname Shannon is an anglicized version of the Irish Gaelic name Ó Seanáin, which means "descendant of Seanán." It originated in County Clare, on the west coast of Ireland, during the Middle Ages.

The name Seanán is derived from the Old Irish word "sean," meaning "old" or "ancient," and was likely a nickname given to someone who was considered wise or venerable. The Ó prefix signifies that the person was a descendant of someone named Seanán.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a chronicle of medieval Irish history, which mentions a Seanán mac Geirb in the year 920 AD. The Ó Seanáin clan was based in the Burren region of County Clare, and their territory included the modern-day towns of Kilfenora and Ennistymon.

The anglicized spelling "Shannon" first appeared in the 16th century, as the English administration in Ireland sought to standardize Irish names for record-keeping purposes. Notable historical figures with the surname Shannon include:

1. Donal O'Shannon (c. 1550-1625), an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Shannon clan during the Elizabethan era. 2. James Shannon (1799-1859), an Irish-American painter and portrait artist who worked in New York City. 3. Wilson Shannon (1802-1877), an American lawyer and politician who served as the governor of Ohio and Kansas. 4. Edgar Shannon (1918-1997), an American actor best known for his role as Eddie Haskell in the television series "Leave It to Beaver." 5. Mary Shannon (b. 1938), an English actress and singer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1960s and 1970s.

The name Shannon is also associated with several place names in Ireland, including the River Shannon, the longest river in the country, and Shannon Airport, one of the country's major international airports.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Shannon families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Shannon surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Lancashire leads with 541 Shannons recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.02x.

County Total Index
Lancashire 541 2.02x
Lanarkshire 316 4.32x
Middlesex 243 1.07x
Yorkshire 142 0.63x
Durham 99 1.47x
Renfrewshire 85 4.85x
Dumfriesshire 82 16.42x
Cheshire 78 1.56x
Surrey 68 0.62x
Staffordshire 55 0.72x
Northumberland 52 1.55x
Ayrshire 43 2.54x
Cumberland 43 2.21x
Hampshire 37 0.80x
Warwickshire 37 0.65x
Dunbartonshire 33 5.43x
Glamorgan 28 0.71x
Devon 25 0.53x
Midlothian 25 0.83x
Kent 20 0.26x
Lincolnshire 18 0.50x
Angus 16 0.76x
Derbyshire 14 0.40x
Flintshire 14 2.30x
Worcestershire 14 0.47x
Argyllshire 13 2.07x
Fife 13 0.97x
Monmouthshire 13 0.80x
Somerset 13 0.36x
Roxburghshire 12 2.93x
Essex 10 0.22x
Selkirkshire 10 4.89x
Suffolk 9 0.33x
Hertfordshire 8 0.51x
Kirkcudbrightshire 8 2.44x
Denbighshire 7 0.82x
Perthshire 7 0.69x
West Lothian 7 2.06x
Royal Navy 6 2.23x
Cornwall 5 0.20x
Stirlingshire 5 0.60x
Sussex 5 0.13x
Berwickshire 4 1.46x
Gloucestershire 4 0.09x
Wiltshire 4 0.20x
Berkshire 3 0.18x
Leicestershire 3 0.12x
Montgomeryshire 3 0.58x
Morayshire 3 0.85x
Buteshire 2 1.46x
Clackmannanshire 2 1.07x
Nottinghamshire 2 0.07x
Ross-shire 2 0.32x
Aberdeenshire 1 0.05x
Buckinghamshire 1 0.07x
Caernarfonshire 1 0.11x
Carmarthenshire 1 0.10x
Channel Islands 1 0.15x
Dorset 1 0.07x
Wigtownshire 1 0.33x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Govan in Lanarkshire leads with 98 Shannons recorded in 1881 and an index of 5.42x.

Place Total Index
Govan 98 5.42x
Barony 83 4.48x
Liverpool 81 4.97x
Glasgow 67 5.16x
Toxteth Park 62 6.82x
Wigan 41 10.93x
Manchester 37 3.07x
Kirkdale 30 6.65x
Everton 29 3.39x
Hoddam 24 199.34x
Shoreditch London 23 2.35x
Annan 21 48.95x
Aston 21 1.34x
Lambeth 21 1.07x
Islington London 20 0.91x
West Derby 20 2.55x
Newcastle Under Lyme 19 14.07x
Over Darwen 18 8.40x
Portsea 18 1.98x
West Greenock 18 5.72x
Westminster St John 18 6.54x
Birkenhead 17 4.27x
Shotts 17 19.43x
St George In East 17 11.05x
Stoke Damerel 17 5.16x
St Marylebone London 16 1.33x
Paisley Low Church 15 27.04x
St Pancras London 15 0.82x
Cambusnethan 14 8.62x
Middlesbrough 14 4.80x
Mold 14 25.39x
Widnes 14 7.23x
Abbey 13 4.86x
Dumfries 13 26.39x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 13 1.07x
Kensington London 13 1.03x
Salford 13 1.65x
Westoe 13 3.41x
Dundonald 12 19.23x
Gorton 12 4.76x
Longbenton 12 8.42x
New Kilpatrick 12 20.76x
Paddington London 12 1.44x
Scarborough 12 5.89x
Spitalfields London 12 7.06x
Ardnamurchan 11 34.45x
Carluke 11 16.57x
East Greenock 11 6.65x
Linthorpe 11 8.23x
Little Bolton 11 3.19x
Oldham 11 1.27x
St George Hanover 11 3.73x
Audley Talk O Th Hill 10 72.73x
Barrow In Furness 10 2.74x
Birmingham 10 0.53x
Gateshead 10 1.99x
Nether Hallam 10 3.30x
Old Kilpatrick 10 13.93x
Stockport 10 3.89x
Stow 10 337.84x
Battersea 9 1.08x
Cummertrees 9 106.26x
Dumbarton 9 10.64x
Fenwick 9 100.45x
Gargrave 9 90.18x
Hawick 9 9.82x
Selby 9 19.22x
St George Bloomsbury 9 6.94x
Swansea Town 9 2.79x
Whitechapel London 9 4.04x
Aberdare 8 2.96x
Blackburn 8 1.12x
Dundee 8 1.02x
Hackney London 8 0.63x
Hetton Le Hole 8 9.38x
Heworth 8 6.04x
Liff Benvie 8 2.52x
Manningham 8 2.90x
Markinch 8 17.61x
Newchurch 8 3.64x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Shannon surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 168
Elizabeth 51
Sarah 47
Margaret 45
Ann 41
Catherine 31
Ellen 29
Jane 28
Annie 25
Eliza 23
Bridget 21
Kate 13
Hannah 12
Emma 11
Alice 10
Emily 10
Agnes 9
Jessie 9
Martha 8
Charlotte 7
Harriet 7
Julia 7
Clara 6
Frances 6
Rose 6
Edith 5
Isabella 5
Louisa 5
Maria 5
Maggie 4
Matilda 4
Susan 4
Susannah 4
Ada 3
Anne 3
Cathrine 3
Esther 3
Fanny 3
Florence 3
Helen 3
Johanna 3
Margeret 3
Margt. 3
Selina 3
Catharine 2
Ethel 2
Lydia 2
Margret 2
Marion 2
Nancy 2

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Shannon surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 148
Thomas 82
James 73
William 73
Patrick 37
Michael 34
George 28
Henry 22
Joseph 20
Robert 19
Edward 18
Daniel 17
Martin 15
Charles 14
Frederick 11
Samuel 11
Peter 8
Richard 8
Alexander 7
Andrew 7
Arthur 6
Dennis 6
Francis 6
Thos. 6
Wm. 6
Hugh 5
Matthew 5
Walter 5
Frank 4
Harry 4
Oliver 4
Timothy 4
Alfred 3
David 3
Jno. 3
Micheal 3
Adam 2
Anthony 2
Bartholomew 2
Dan 2
Frederic 2
Isaac 2
Michel 2
Percy 2
Philip 2
Phillip 2
Robt. 2
Thady 2
Willm. 2
Ezekiel 1

FAQ

Shannon surname: questions and answers

How common was the Shannon surname in 1881?

In 1881, 2,314 people were recorded with the Shannon surname. That placed it at #1,928 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Shannon surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 5,286 in 2016. That gives Shannon a modern rank of #1,278.

What does the Shannon surname mean?

An anglicized form of the Irish surname "O Scannlain," meaning "descendant of Scannlán," an old Irish personal name.

What does the Shannon map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Shannon bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.