Shannon (surname)

Shannon, MacShannon, and O'Shannon are Anglicised Irish and Scottish surnames that derive from the Gaelic word seanachaidh, which means "skilled storyteller".[1] Seanachaidh is descended from the Old Irish word senchaid.

Shannon
Language(s)Scots
Origin
Language(s)Old Irish[1]
Word/namesenchaid[1]
Derivationcognate
Meaningskilled storyteller
Other names
Variant form(s)MacShannon, O'Shannon
Cognate(s)senchaid

Other forms of the name are O'Shawnessey or O'Shannahan.

Several old Gaelic names of Scottish and Irish people alike were Anglicised as Shannon, despite being unrelated.

The 1990 United States Census found that Shannon was a very common surname (#679 out of 88,799) in the United States.[2]

People with the surname Shannon

Academics

Artists

Journalists

  • Bob Shannon (Radio) (born 1942), Canadian journalist
  • Bob Shannon (WCBS-FM) (born 1948), American journalist
  • Mark Shannon (born c. 1950), American journalist
  • Paul Shannon (1909–1990), American journalist
  • Scott Shannon (fl. c. late 20th century), American journalist
  • William V. Shannon (1927–1988), American journalist

Military personnel

Politicians

  • David Shannon (1822–1875), South Australian politician
  • George Shannon (explorer) (1785–1836), also U.S. Senator
  • Howard Huntley Shannon (1892–1976), Australian politician
  • James Shannon, (1840–1891), South Australian politician
  • James Michael Shannon (born 1952), American politician
  • John Wallace Shannon (1862–1926), South Australian politician
  • Peter Shannon (born 1949), Australian diplomat
  • Richard C. Shannon (1839–1920), US Representative from New York
  • Steve Shannon (born 1971), American politician
  • Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. (born c. 1960), American diplomat

Scientists

Sportsmen

See also

References

  1. "Shannon". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 2009. ISBN 9780395825174. OCLC 43499541. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  2. Campbell, Mike. "Shannon". Behind the Name. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
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