You will probably know someone with this name but they are probably not a young child because it is going extinct.
We love a classic Irish name, and so do so many parents – they are classics for a reason! However more and more modern Irish names are popping up leaving little room for some of the older names.
It’s a great pity when the likes of Ciara and Sinéad are declining to make room for Fiadh and Éala, no matter how nice the newer names are. But that’s the circle of life, naming trends come and go and we are sure that there will be a day in the future when Rían is seen as an ‘old man’ name and Shane will be the height of popularity again.
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One Irish name that absolutely shot up in popularity in the 90s is Shannon and it was kind of a phenomenon of it’s time. You almost definitely know of someone with this name, it was incredibly trendy for a time and now it’s practically unheard of.
Meaning of the name Shannon
The name Shannon is an Irish moniker which means ‘wise river’ or ‘possessor of wisdom’ and, of course, is related to the longest river in Ireland. It is derived from the name Sionainn which has ties to Irish mythology, as Sionainn was a granddaughter of the sea god Manannán mac Lir.
It may also be related to the Old Irish word senchaid which means storyteller.
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Popularity and decline of the baby name
Shannon had a real moment in the 90s and it kind of came from nowhere. In 1989, the name was only given to eight babies, coming in at number 332 of all the names chosen that year and the following year, in 1990 jumped over 100 places.
The trend continued with the name rising quickly in a short space of time and by 1996, it was the 17th most popular name chosen for little girls, with 336 baby Shannons born that year. It actually reached its peak in 1997 when it hit number 14 and from there slowly began its decline.
Fast forward to the 2020s and hardly anyone is choosing the name Shannon for their baby girls. In 2025 the name was given to just three babies, according to the CSO, and we think it deserves a comeback!
