Explore the Family Name Shawn

The meaning of Shawn

Scottish or Irish: possibly a variant of Shane.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Shawn in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Shawn has seen a slight decline over a decade. In 2000, Shawn was ranked as the 23,128th most popular surname in America with 1,031 individuals bearing the name. However, by 2010, the rank fell to the 25,659th position and the count decreased to 961, indicating a decrease of approximately 6.79%. This translates to a decline from 0.38 to 0.33 per 100,000 people in the population, demonstrating a change of -13.16%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#23,128	#25,659	-10.94%
Count	1,031	961	-6.79%
Proportion per 100k	0.38	0.33	-13.16%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Shawn

The Decennial U.S. Census data also provides insights into the ethnic identity associated with the Shawn surname. In 2000, a majority of those carrying the Shawn surname identified as White, making up 79.34% of the total. By 2010, this proportion decreased slightly to 75.34%. The percentage of Shawn carriers identifying as Black remained relatively stable, increasing slightly from 11.35% in 2000 to 11.65% in 2010. However, there were notable increases in Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic identifications, which grew by 65.08% and 110.29%, respectively, between 2000 and 2010. Those identifying as two or more races increased modestly from 2.62% to 3.02%. The only decrease was noted among those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native, dropping from 2.72% to 2.19% over the same period.

	2000	2010	Change
White	79.34%	75.34%	-5.04%
Black	11.35%	11.65%	2.64%
Hispanic	2.72%	5.72%	110.29%
Two or More Races	2.62%	3.02%	15.27%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	2.72%	2.19%	-19.49%
Asian/Pacific Islander	1.26%	2.08%	65.08%