sean
n. countablen. a common Irish name for a man. It is the Irish version of the name John.
n. a masculine given name of Irish origin, corresponding to the English name John.
My friend Sean is coming to the party tonight.
After moving from Dublin to London, Sean found that many people initially struggled with the spelling of his name.
The historical prevalence of the name Sean in Irish literature reflects its deep roots in the cultural identity of the nation across several centuries.
Anglicised form of Irish Seán, from Old French Jehan, from Latin Johannes, variant of Ioannes, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān, literally “God is gracious”). Doublet of John, Jack, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Ian, Evan, Ivan, Shaun, Shane, and Giovanni.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Proper noun; always capitalized.
Last updated May 2, 2026