Shane (name)

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Shane Given Name
Pronunciation	SHAYN
Gender	Male
Meaning	"God is gracious"
Region of Origin	Ireland
Related names	John, Seán
Wikipedia articles	All pages beginning with Shane

Contents 1 Variants 2 Given name 2.1 Surname 3 Fictional characters 4 References 5 See also

Shane is a masculine given name. It is an Irish version of the name Seán.^[1]

Like the name John, Shane has a long history that traces back to Hebrew name יוחנן Yôḥānnān, which means "Yaweh is gracious". Yaweh is the name of the god of the Jewish people. Yôḥānnān was the name of several important Jewish rabbis in the Second Temple Period in Palestine, such as Yochanan ben Zakai and Yochanan ben Nuri.

The name had gained popularity among Jews in Judea and Galilee by the time the area became a province of the Roman Empire in 6 C.E. It was the given name of Yochanan ben Zechariah, a Jewish prophet known in English as John the Baptist. It was also the given name of Yochanan ben Zibhdi, a fisherman from Galilee who became one of the favorite students (called disciples) of Jesus Christ and so is known in English as John the Apostle. Because Yochanan also wrote one of the four accounts of the life of Jesus Christ called gospels, the Gospel of St. John, he is also known as John the Evangelist.

The texts that tell of the lives of both these men named Yochanan were written in Greek, and their name was adapted in Greek as Ἰωάννης, Iōannēs (pronounced YO-han-NAYS). The name Ioannes became extremely popular among the early Christians, and bearers include such noted members of the early church as Ioannes Chrysostomos and the Ioannes who wrote the Book of Revelation.

Because of the great respect Christians had for these men, the name came into use in other parts of the Christianized Roman Empire, even in remoter parts such as Gaul and Britain. The Western areas of the Roman Empire did not, however, speak Greek like the areas in the East. Instead, they spoke Latin. Accordingly, in the Western part of the Roman Empire the name was Latinized as Iohannes (pronounced like the Greek).

The local populations in these areas of the Roman Empire soon changed Roman names to fit their own dialect, which included dropping the suffixes -us and -es from such names. Johannes became the Germanic Johann, for example, and on the outskirts of the Empire in the newly converted Eire it became the Irish Eoin. In some cases, the pronunciation of the "J" also changed from the original "Y", so that in Iberia the name eventually changed to the Spanish Juan and in Gaul to the French Jean (pronounced JOWN).

In the 11th century the French duke William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England and brought his French knights and their dialect with him. In England, the French name Jean came to be spelled John. The Norman kings of England also conquered Ireland in the 13th century and the 14th century. The Irish nobility was replaced by Norman nobles, some of whom bore the French name Jean or the Anglicized name John. The Irish adapted the name to their own pronunciation and spelling, producing the name Seán. Sean is mostly pronounced SHAWN, but in the northern parts of Ireland it is pronounced SHAYN, thus leading to the modern pronunciation and Anglicized form of the name, Shane.

Because for a long time in Britain and in the United States the Irish comprised part of the working class, a stereotype about drunken, fight-happy Irishmen arose. This led to another use of the name Shane for a young, extremely violent individual in common phrases such as, "I got attacked by some Shane last week."

In the United States, the name Shane also became associated with cowboy-types through the 1949 novel "Shane" by Jack Schaefer and the 1953 movie adaptation, directed by by George Stevens from a screenplay by A.B. Guthrie Jr..

Shane is rarely used as a feminine given name. However, the feminine version of the name is not derived from the Northern Irish name Shane, but rather from the Yiddish name Shayna, meaning "beautiful".

Shane is also an occasional surname, often as a suffix to "Mc", "Mac", or "O'" to form Anglicized Irish surname patronyms.^[2]

[edit] Variants

Variant forms include Shayne and Shain. The name Shay may be a shortened form but is usually considered a variant on Shea, Irish for James.

[edit] Given name

This list is incomplete. You can help by adding people entries to it.

• Shane Alexander, 2nd Earl Alexander of Tunis (b. 1935), British peer
• Shane Battier (b. 1978), American basketball player
• Shane Bond (b. 1970), New Zealand cricketer
• Shane Briant (b. 1946), British-Australian actor and novelist
• Shane Byrne (b. 1971), Irish rugby union player
• Shane Connaughton, Irish actor and screenwriter
• Shane Doan (b. 1976), Canadian NHL hockey player
• Shane Filan (b. 1979), lead singer of the Irish band Westlife
• Shane Garton (b. 1967), former governor of Iowa
• Shane Gould (b. 1956), Australian swimmer
• Shane Haboucha (b. 1990), American actor famous for his appearance in the 2003 video clip "Stacy's Mom"
• Shane Horgan (b. 1978), Irish rugby union player
• Shane Kippel (b. 1986), Canadian actor who plays Gavin "Spinner" Mason on the TV show "Degrassi"
• Shane Lee (b. 1973), former Australian cricketer
• Shane Leslie (1885 - 1971), Irish-born diplomat and writer
• Shane Lynch (b. 1971), Irish singer from the band Boyzone
• Shane MacGowan (b. 1957), singer/songwriter for the Irish music group, The Pogues
• Shane Ruttle Martinez, anti-nazi activist
• Shane McKenzie (b. 1973), Australian athlete
• Shane McMahon (b. 1970), son of World Wrestling Entertainment head Vince McMahon, a current WWE executive, and occasional WWE wrestler
• Shane Meadows (b. 1972), British film director
• Shane Niemi (b. 1978), Canadian track and field athlete
• Shane O'Neill (ca. 1530 - 1567), 16th C. Irish warrior, The O' Neill
• Shane Richie (b. 1964), British actor and TV presenter
• Shane Stant (b. 1971), the known assailant who attacked Nancy Kerrigan
• Shane Twins (b. 1967), professional wrestlers that consist of the twin brothers Mike and Todd Shane
• Shane Warne (b. 1969), Australian cricketer, known for his spin bowling, who retired from international cricket in 2007, and will retire from all cricket in 2008
• Shane Watson (b. 1981), Australian cricketer
• Shane Webcke (b. 1974), Australian rugby league footballer
• Shane West (b. 1978), American actor
• Shane Williams (b. 1977), Welsh rugby union player
• Shane White (b.1989), the best playboy of all times

[edit] Surname

Shane Family Name
Pronunciation	shayn
Related names	McShane, MacShane, O'Shane
Popularity	Behind the Name
Wikipedia articles	All pages beginning with Shane

• Alex Shane (b. 1979), former British wrestler
• Bob Shane (b. 1934), American folk singer and lead singer that helped found "The Kingston Trio"
• Doug Shane (b. ?), test pilot
• Paul Shane (b. 1940), English actor

[edit] Fictional characters

• Shane McCutcheon, from The L Word

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Shayne (name)