How popular is the baby name Sean in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Sean.

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Popularity of the baby name Sean


Posts that mention the name Sean

Numerology: Baby names with a value of 3

Baby names with a numerological value of 3

If you’re on the hunt for baby names with a numerological value of 3, you’re in luck! Because today’s post features hundreds of 3-names.

Before we get to the names, though — how do we know that they’re “threes” in numerology?

Turning names into numbers

Here’s how to calculate the numerological value of a name.

First, for each letter, come up with a number to represent that letter’s position in the alphabet. (Letter A would be number 1, letter B would be number 2, and so forth.) Then, add all the numbers together. If the sum has two or more digits, add the digits together recursively until the result is a single digit. That single digit is the name’s numerological value.

For instance, the letters in the name Tyson correspond to the numbers 20, 25, 19, 15, and 14. The sum of these numbers is 93. The digits of 93 added together equal 12, and the digits of 12 added together equal 3 — the numerological value of Tyson.

Baby names with a value of 3

Below you’ll find the most popular 3-names per gender, according to the latest U.S. baby name data. I’ve further sub-categorized them by total sums — just in case any of those larger numbers are significant to anyone.

3 via 12

The letters in the following baby names add up to 12, which reduces to three (1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 12)Boy names (3 via 12)
Aja, Fae, Bia, Abi, BeeGad, Jb, Abed

3 via 21

The letters in the following baby names add up to 21, which reduces to three (2+1=3).

Girl names (3 via 21)Boy names (3 via 21)
Kai, Asa, Gala, Jaia, CleaKai, Kade, Asa, Alec, Ben, Beck, Cale

3 via 30

The letters in the following baby names add up to 30, which reduces to three (3+0=3).

Girl names (3 via 30)Boy names (3 via 30)
Ella, Alice, Anna, Jane, Noa, Bianca, Abby, Bria, Celia, Liah, Kalea, Dafne, Asia, Tia, Lela, Bree, Caeli, Jean, Ilah, Bobbi, Aaira, LacieJoe, Noa, Jean, Rafe, Taha, Eesa, Bodi, Tai, Ken, Abir, Zac, Asai

3 via 39

The letters in the following baby names add up to 39, which reduces to three (3+9=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 39)Boy names (3 via 39)
Camila, Ayla, Sara, Gemma, Amy, Leila, Mya, Kira, Allie, Angel, Amber, Clare, Kodi, May, Janie, Alya, Diya, Kari, Dalila, Deanna, Ellia, Laya, Ameena, Adora, Jackie, Iona, Joie, Kaleia, Deasia, Avana, Asra, GoldaAngel, Declan, Kash, Sean, Drake, Jon, Jakob, Asaiah, Lev, Emil, Tahj, Kodi, Keagan, Judd, Sanad, Amadeo, Kree, Edric, Breck, Aero, Jawad, Jackie, Jaeden, Galen, Jakhi, Khaleb

3 via 48

The letters in the following baby names add up to 48, which reduces to three (4+8=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 48)Boy names (3 via 48)
Luna, Nora, Claire, Isabel, Daphne, Teagan, Adriana, Celine, Alayah, Amora, Kalani, Sarai, Briar, Sasha, Zelda, Siena, Aviana, Aliya, Kairi, Ainhoa, Ellen, Meghan, Ariadna, Miya, Dariana, Rita, Faigy, Maite, Kalina, Sahara, Liza, Nyah, Saira, Anabella, Donna, Aiyla, Pamela, Jannah, James, Joni, Kiari, Ofelia, Amyah, Carlie, Issa, Mayah, Aayat, Levi, Malaika, Katana, Merci, Siara, Abilene, Edyn, Lou, Kenedi, BrandiJames, Levi, Ethan, Theo, Jonah, Graham, Malakai, Jasiah, Leland, Johan, Kamden, Amos, Zakai, Aron, Briar, Jagger, Rey, Blaise, Jakobi, Semaj, Noble, Teagan, Aksel, Roan, Kahari, Eamon, Armaan, Kailo, Issa, Keelan, Niall, Gracen, Malachai, Miko, Marek, Izaak, Lou, Luan, Efren, Hosea, Zahid, Aycen, Farhan, Rye, Tom, Aadvik, Brave, Faisal, Oshea, Aceyn, Uri, Vidal, Jhoan, Kairi, Jaceon, Dekari, Kailan, Sasha, Pearce, Aasir, Thane

3 via 57

The letters in the following baby names add up to 57, which reduces to three (5+7=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 57)Boy names (3 via 57)
Aaliyah, Rose, Mary, Adalyn, Kailani, Mariana, Hayden, Willa, Amiyah, Myra, Lilian, Nellie, Ellis, Laney, Julie, Layne, Jaylah, Nancy, Sandra, Alaiyah, Alessa, Cecily, Harlem, Kylah, Eunice, Rayla, Zelie, Lux, Aylen, Alizah, Ayvah, Zofia, Katy, Kaileen, Zayda, Niyah, Moon, Jennie, Namaari, Colby, Gisele, Taleen, Leyna, Karol, EvannaOwen, George, Hayden, Ellis, Major, Eithan, Colby, Krew, Layne, Chris, Uriah, Benicio, Franco, Duncan, Eugene, Harlem, Wallace, Lux, Kyng, Eros, Aryeh, Yoel, Edson, Jasir, Xaiden, Aharon, Malcom, Daylan, Javian, Kemari, Arion, Artem, Advait, Burke, Nayel, Brogan, Murad, Abubakar, Kaleth, Nahum, Jaiceon, Golden, Sion, Slate, Bless

3 via 66

The letters in the following baby names add up to 66, which reduces to three (6+6=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 66)Boy names (3 via 66)
Harper, Addison, Ruby, Emery, Sloane, Ximena, Lainey, Delaney, Brooke, Ophelia, Annabelle, Nayeli, Alessia, Frances, Rosie, Jessica, Alejandra, Holland, Jaliyah, Maxine, Elyse, Nathalia, Saanvi, Raylee, Mollie, Tatiana, Jasmin, Shayla, Yaneli, Laynie, Beckett, Charlene, Mckayla, Georgie, Rhyan, Eliany, Citlali, Krisha, Serene, Amyrah, Lulu, Savanah, Colleen, Henny, HaizleeCharles, Beckett, Xander, Zayn, Tobias, Manuel, Romeo, Royce, Esteban, Dalton, Armando, Corey, Dillon, Emery, Edison, Keaton, Ricky, Kaizen, Cassian, Denzel, Zakari, Jerome, Bastian, Booker, Finnick, Harper, Rush, Ilyas, Steele, Holland, Zyan, Mickey, Gibson, Darnell, Mykel, Meyer, Vito, Maksim, Elton, Esdras, Addison, Lyon, Osmar, Vedant, Ronen, Arsalan, Jorden, Ryden, Keshav, Yaqub, Shmiel

3 via 75

The letters in the following baby names add up to 75, which reduces to three (7+5=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 75)Boy names (3 via 75)
Madison, Quinn, Esther, Tatum, Adelynn, Raelyn, Annalise, Rosalia, Bethany, Clover, Kinslee, Aspyn, Rosalee, Simone, Sharon, Rowen, Eliyanah, Avalyn, Geraldine, Mariyah, Hollis, Xolani, Eisley, Katarina, Addalynn, Denisse, Bryanna, Eleanore, Susana, Andromeda, Marianne, Azuri, Emryn, Lucianna, Hayven, Cheyanne, Marielle, Ronnie, Nylani, Annmarie, Maylani, Delainey, Sofiya, Maybelle, MilagroZayden, Marcus, Martin, Tatum, Luciano, Quinn, Jeffrey, Kendrick, Rowen, Zachariah, Kaysen, Gunnar, Maximo, Magnus, Melvin, Leroy, Hollis, Ronnie, Dominik, Yaakov, Jeffery, Norman, Jermaine, Simeon, Slater, Linus, Arrow, Ramses, Wendell, Karmelo, Raylen, Lamont, Roscoe, Damarion, Xavien, Johnnie, Ezriel, Bayron, Mahmoud, Nessiah, Zaedyn, Lynx, Ferris, Jassiel, Sorin, Connell, Heitor, Hershel, Jonatan, Lyrik, Zahmir, Avrum, Vyom

3 via 84

The letters in the following baby names add up to 84, which reduces to three (8+4=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 84)Boy names (3 via 84)
Ryleigh, Londyn, Collins, Jocelyn, Makenzie, Lennox, Violeta, Zaniyah, Mazikeen, Maelynn, Yusra, Lillianna, Madalynn, Austin, Renesmee, Sunday, Caitlyn, Charity, Lindsay, Mahogany, Arizona, Emberleigh, Lennyn, Anneliese, Brinleigh, NormaniAlexander, Leonardo, Austin, Nathaniel, Emmanuel, Barrett, Lennox, Zyaire, Marshall, Lawson, Jaxton, Kyson, Jayson, Atreus, Ryatt, Terrance, Rayyan, Thorin, Alister, Nickolas, Francesco, Luther, Lyndon, Yuvaan, Demarcus, Eastyn, Million, Stiles, Rashawn, Collins, Alexandre, Braxten, Kenyon, Axtyn, Surya, Willis, Sylis, Vinny

3 via 93

The letters in the following baby names add up to 93, which reduces to three (9+3=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 93)Boy names (3 via 93)
Juniper, Sunny, Elliott, Ashlynn, Yamileth, Majesty, Rhiannon, Novaleigh, Evalynn, Cristina, Britney, Brighton, Rosalinda, Philomena, Railynn, Rosaline, NazarethBryson, Elliott, Justin, Atticus, Cristian, Tyson, Roberto, Arturo, Sunny, Greysen, Brighton, Taysom, Sylvan, Shaurya, Majesty, Jaxsyn

3 via 102

The letters in the following baby names add up to 102, which reduces to three (1+0+2=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 102)Boy names (3 via 102)
Charlotte, Juliette, Wrenley, Whitley, Jazlynn, Kingsley, Kaylynn, Kinzley, Gwyneth, Christiana, Emmerson, Katelynn, Gwenyth, Vanellope, Winnifred, ValentineHarrison, Brixton, Kingsley, Langston, Huxton, Syrus, Iverson, Humberto, Henderson, Yehoshua, Valentine, Zaviyar, Whitley, Abdulaziz, Zorawar, Scotty

3 via 111

The letters in the following baby names add up to 111, which reduces to three (1+1+1=3).

Girl names (3 via 111)Boy names (3 via 111)
Amethyst, Parklynn, Braylynn, Taylynn, Brystol, PromyseRaymundo, Muhammadamin, Briggston, Xzavion, Christos

3 via 120

The letters in the following baby names add up to 120, which reduces to three (1+2+0=3).

Girl names (3 via 120)Boy names (3 via 120)
Skylynn, Yaretzy, Lexington, Greylynn, StarletteMaximiliano, Ulysses, Lexington, Leviticus, Thompson

3 via 129

The letters in the following baby names add up to 129, which reduces to three (1+2+9=12; 1+2=3).

Girl names (3 via 129)Boy names (3 via 129)
Kourtney, Tzipporah, Knoxlynn, Iyinoluwa, TraylynnAugustus, Silvestre, Brookston, Constantin, Trayshawn

Number 3: Significance and associations

What does the number three mean in numerology?

There’s no definitive answer, unfortunately, because various numerological systems exist, and each one has its own interpretation of the number three. That said, if we look at a couple of modern numerology/astrology websites, we see 3 being described as “creative,” “optimistic,” “friendly,” “outgoing,” and “self-expressive.”

We can also look at associations, which are a bit more concrete. Here are some things that are associated with the number 3:

  • Triple crown (victory in three events)
  • Hat trick (3 goals scored in one game by a single player)
  • Circus (3 rings)
  • Yard (3 feet)
  • Three-act structure (in narrative)
  • Rule of thirds (in photography)
  • Traffic lights
  • Manx flag (3 legs)

What does the number 3 mean to you? What are your strongest associations with the number?

P.S. To see names with other numerological values, check out the posts for the numbers one, two, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine.

Sources: SSA, Numerology – Cafe Astrology, The meaning of the numbers 1 – 9 – World Numerology, 3 – Wikipedia

[Latest update: Jan. 2024]

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2018

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

According to data from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most popular baby names in the country in 2018 were again Emily and Jack.

Here are Ireland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

  1. Emily
  2. Grace
  3. Emma
  4. Sophie
  5. Amelia
  6. Ella
  7. Ellie
  8. Mia
  9. Ava
  10. Fiadh (pronounced fee-ah)

Boy Names

  1. Jack
  2. James
  3. Noah
  4. Conor
  5. Daniel
  6. Harry
  7. Luke
  8. Michael
  9. Adam
  10. Charlie

In the girls’ top 10, Ella, Ellie, and Fiadh replaced Hannah (now 11th), Lucy (13th), and Chloe (16th). The Irish name Fiadh* comes from the word fia, which means “wild” — in a “wild animal” or “wild deer” sense specifically. (Many sources oversimplify the definition by reducing it to “deer.”)

In the boys’ top 10, Charlie replaced Sean (now both 13th & 74th — see below for an explanation).

New entrants to the girls’ top 100 were Ada, Bella, Bonnie and Ivy. Ada and Ivy were the fastest climbers.

New entrants to the boys’ top 100 were Frankie, Freddie and Theodore. Theodore and Frankie were the fastest climbers.

Something else new to the rankings in 2018? The síneadh fada — an important Irish diacritic that indicates a long vowel. (In Irish, the word síneadh means “stretching” or “prolongation” and the word fada means “long.”) This is what pushed longtime top-five name Sean out of the top 10 entirely in 2018. “Sean” and “Seán” are now being counted as separate names. Currently, Seán ranks 13th while fada-less Sean is way down in 74th place.

Speaking of names with relatively low placement on the list, baby names bestowed just three times each in Ireland last year included…

  • Rare girl names: Aodhla, Erris, Fódla, Rahela, Seoda, Ugne, Xenia
  • Rare boy names: Connla, Iarfhlaith, Liam Óg, Lughaidh, Seánie, Sionnach, Zente

*The name Fiadh debuted in the U.S. data in 2018.

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2018: Introduction, Babies’ Names 2018 Tables, CSO baby names list features síneadh fada for first time

Top image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)
Second image: CSO

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2017

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

Ireland’s rankings came out early this year! Typically we don’t see them until the start of June, but this year they were released at the end of February.

Anyway…according to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most popular baby names in the country in 2017 were Emily and Jack.

Here are Ireland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2017:

Girl Names
1. Emily
2. Emma
3. Amelia
4. Grace
5. Sophie
6. Lucy
7. Hannah
8. Mia
9. Ava
10. Chloe

Boy Names
1. Jack
2. James
3. Daniel
4. Conor
5. Sean
6. Noah
7. Luke
8. Harry
9. Adam
10. Michael

In the girls’ top 10, Chloe replaced Lily.

In the boys’ top 10, Harry replaced Oisin.

Interesting factoid: “While there were 2,981 baby boys named John [the #1 boy name] 50 years ago, taken together the five most popular boys’ names in 2017 accounted for 2,765 baby boys.”

The names that saw the most growth in popularity — just within the top 100, I believe — were:

  • Girl names by…
    • Rank: Aoibhin (+81 spots), Nina (+41 spots), Hazel & Pippa (tie; +21 spots each)
    • Number of babies: Aoibhin (+57), Evie (+54), Sadie (+34)
  • Boy names by…
    • Rank: Theo (+33 spots), Jackson (+29 spots), Ruairi (+27 spots)
    • Number of babies: Luke (+45), Logan (+44), Harry (+36)

In 2016, the top two names were Emily and James.

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2017, Babies’ Names 2017 Tables, Jack and Emily most popular baby names in 2017

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)

Baby names inspired by the solar eclipse: Helios, Mahina, Blake

Total solar eclipse (August 2017)
Total solar eclipse

On August 21, the United States will see its first coast-to-coast solar eclipse since 1918. If you’re planning to have (or conceive!) a baby around the time of the eclipse, you might be interested in a name that marks the event (but that perhaps isn’t as obvious as Eclipse itself).

So what are your options?

Names with “celestial” associations

A solar eclipse involves the alignment of three celestial bodies — the sun (a star), the moon, and the Earth — in the sky. You could use a name that is associated in some way with one of these elements, such as…

“Sun” names

  • Haru (Japanese)
  • Helios (ancient Greek)
  • Hina (Japanese)
  • Inti (Quechua)
  • Nou (Hmong)
  • Ra (ancient Egyptian)
  • Ravi (Sanskrit)
  • Shams (Arabic)
  • Sol (Spanish & Portuguese, ultimately from Latin)
  • Solaris (Latin)
  • Soleil (French)
  • Sunniva (Old English)
  • Sunny (English)
  • Surya (Sanskrit)

“Star” names

  • Aster (ancient Greek)
  • Astra (based on the ancient Greek word)
  • Citlalli (Nahuatl)
  • Estelle (French)
  • Estrella (Spanish)
  • Hoshi (Japanese)
  • Najm & Najma (Arabic)
  • Seren (Welsh)
  • Star (English)
  • Starla (based on the English word)
  • Stjarna (Icelandic)
  • Stella (Latin)
  • Tähti (Finnish)
  • Tara (Sanskrit)

“Moon” names

  • Aylin (Turkish)
  • Badr (Arabic)
  • Chandra (Sanskrit)
  • Dal (Korean)
  • Dawa (Tibetan)
  • Ilargi (Basque)
  • Luna (Latin)
  • Lusine (Armenian)
  • Mahina (Hawaiian & Tongan)
  • Máni (Icelandic)
  • Metztli (Nahuatl)
  • Moon (English)
  • Qamar (Arabic)
  • Selene (ancient Greek)

“Earth” names

  • Avani (Sanskrit)
  • Bhumi (Sanskrit)
  • Eartha (based on the English word)
  • Gaia (ancient Greek)
  • Ki (Sumerian)
  • Tierra (Spanish)
  • Tlalli (Nahuatl)

“Sky” names

  • Akash (Sanskrit)
  • Alya (Arabic)
  • Anu (Sumerian)
  • Caelus (Latin)
  • Céleste (French)
  • Ciel (French)
  • Cielo (Spanish)
  • Lani (Hawaiian)
  • Ortzi (Basque)
  • Sky (English)
  • Skyla (based on the English word)
  • Sora (Japanese)

You could even look for a name that contains more than one of these elements. I’ve come across a handful of names that happen to contain both an element meaning “sun” and an element meaning “moon,” for instance. Examples include Ravichandra (Sanskrit), Künnei (Yakut), Aygün (Turkish), and Günay (also Turkish).

Names with “dark” associations

The main event, from an Earthling’s perspective, is the darkening of the sun thanks to the moon getting in the way and casting its shadow over us. So you could use a name associated in some way with darkness, such as…

“Shadow” names

  • Chhaya (Sanskrit)
  • Shade (English)
  • Shadow (English)
  • Umbra (Latin)
  • Zalaph (Hebrew)
  • Zillah (Hebrew)

“Dark” or “Black” names

  • Adham (Arabic)
  • Blake (English surname)
  • Charna (Yiddish)
  • Ciar & Ciara (Irish)
  • Ciarán (Irish)
  • Dubhán (Irish)
  • Duff (Irish surname)
  • Jett (English)
  • Kara (Turkish)
  • Krishna (Sanskrit)
  • Melaina (ancient Greek)
    • Melania (Latin, based on melaina)
    • Mélanie (French form of Melania)
  • Raven (English)
  • Sullivan (Irish surname)

“Night” names

  • Layla (Arabic)
  • Nisha (Sanskrit)
  • Njóla (Icelandic)
  • Noctis (Latin)
  • Nox (Latin)
  • Nyx (ancient Greek)
  • Rajani (Sanskrit)
  • Rajnish (Sanskrit)
  • Tuta (Quechua)
  • Yoalli (Nahuatl)

I think Blake and Sullivan are particularly intriguing choices.

The English surname Blake can come from either of two similar Middle English words that happen to have opposite definitions: blac, meaning “black,” or blac, meaning “wan, pale, white, fair.” So it manages to encapsulate the concepts of both darkness and lightness — two key elements of an eclipse.

And the Irish surname Sullivan, “descendant of Súileabhán,” is based on the Gaelic personal name Súileabhán, meaning “little dark eye” — which sounds a lot like a poetic description of an eclipse.

Name pairings with both “celestial” and “dark” associations

You could combine some of the “celestial” and “dark” names above to get something more specific, like…

  • Layla Soleil: “night” and “sun”
  • Jett Helios: “black” and “sun”
  • Ciarán Sol: “black” and “sun”
  • Mélanie Stella: “dark” and “star” (“Dark Star” is also a Grateful Dead song)
  • Luna Zillah: “moon” and “shadow” (“Moon Shadow” is also a Cat Stevens song)

Names (or name pairings) featuring the letters “S” and “E”

This is as inconspicuous as it gets. Commemorate the solar eclipse simply by using the letters “S” and “E” in combination. You could choose a single name that starts with “Se-,” like…

Sela
Selene (“moon” in Greek)
Selma
Seraphina
Seren (“star” in Welsh)
Serenity
Sean
Sebastian
Sefton
Sergio
Seth
Severino

Or, you could use a pair of names that start with “S-” and “E-,” such as…

Sabrina Eden
Sydney Elise
Sarah Evangeline
Susanna Elizabeth
Simon Elijah
Spencer Ellis
Shane Everett
Samuel Edward

Which of the above names (or combos) do you like most? What other solar eclipse-themed ideas would you add to this list?


Updates

  • May 2018: The baby name Eclipse debuted in the 2017 data! The baby name Moon also more than tripled in usage last year.
  • Dec. 2021: Did you know that Cleopatra gave her twins the middle names Selene and Helios?
  • Dec. 2022: The rare Icelandic name Myrkvi can mean “eclipse” (also “darkness”).
  • Feb. 2023: Actress Soleil Moon Frye‘s given names mean “sun” and (of course) “moon.”
  • Apr. 2024: A baby born during the April 2024 total solar eclipse was named Sol Celeste.
  • May 2024: The baby name Eclipse saw its highest-ever usage (so far) in 2023, thanks to the “ring of fire” annular solar eclipse of October 2023.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 2017 Total Solar Eclipse by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center under CC BY 2.0.