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Shannon is a Gaelic unisex given name. Alternative spellings include Shannen, Shanon, Shannan, Seanan and Siannon. Some variants of the name are Shan, Shania, Shana, Shanna and Shane.
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Shannon means "small, wise one". The name Shannon is mainly used In English.[1] The meaning of the name Shannon most probably refers to an ancient Celtic deity identified with a river in Ireland. The River Shannon is the principal river of Ireland. 240 mi. (386 km) long flowing SW from Northern Ireland to the Atlantic. The River Shannon presumably refers to the Goddess associated with the river, "Sionna" (pronounced SHAN-nen).[2] The Irish goddess sought out the hazelnuts of wisdom which were believed to contain éigse, the spirit and inspiration of poetry. In Celtic mythology, the search for wisdom was usually made by a woman who found it in a river or well. Always, she is changed by the knowledge into a new being; a goddess.
There are several Irish legends accounting for the name Shannon. A well called Connla's Well existed under the sea that was filled with fish and either hazel or rowan trees, depending on which legend you are reading, dropped their nuts or berries, depending again on the legend, into the well. The salmon that ate the nuts or the berries were thought to gain great knowledge and wisdom. This made the fish very desirable and fishermen worked very hard to get and catch these.
Women were not allowed to eat these so-called "fish of knowledge or wisdom." However, a brave rebel female named Shannon (spelled Sionnain in Gaelic), who some say is the daughter of the moon, ignored this rule and caught and ate one of the fish. Immediately upon this infraction, the well water rose up and carried Shannon to the Atlantic Ocean, creating the River Shannon.
The name Shannon first became common in the United States after 1940 as a female name.[3] Prior to that it was common as a place name only, primarily in Ireland. The name reached its most popular period during the 1970s in the United States for both males and females. It has since become common in Ireland as a unisex name also. According to the 1990 U.S. Census, Shannon is a very common first name for men (#317 out of 1220) and also a very common last name for both men and women (#679 out of 88799).
The name Shannon and related names MacShannon and O'Shannon are Scottish surnames connected to Seanachaidh, a storyteller or historian. Other forms of the name are Gilshenan and Giltennen. It is also connected to O'Shawnessey or O'Shannahan. Several old Gaelic names both Scottish and Irish and unrelated to each other were Anglicized as Shannon.
Shane is a shortened form of Shannon and comes from the Ulster pronunciation of the name, whereas the names Shaun, Shawn or Sean come from the way it is pronounced in Munster, Leinster and Connaught.