Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

shaun

/ʃoːn/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.58 in modern English

Syllables: shaun
IPA: /ʃoːn/

8

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

A male given name from Irish.

name

A female given name from Irish.

Etymology

A variant of Sean, from 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, Sean, Shawn, Shane, and Giovanni as a male name. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shauna, and Sheena as a female name.

Origin

Source language: Irish

Word Breakdown

Root: Seán, Jehan, Johannes, Ἰωάννης, יוֹחָנָן

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ʃoːn/
British English: /ʃɔːn/

Inflected Forms

Shawn (alternative)

Derived Forms

Shauna

Homonyms

Sean Shawn shorn (non-rhotic, horse–hoarse merger) Sian (female given name, cot–caught merger, father-bother merger)

Rhymes With

gone hands-on drawn sean dawn lawn withdrawn shawn undergone pawn vaughan braun

Questions

How do you pronounce shaun?: The recorded pronunciation is /ʃoːn/.
What does shaun mean?: A male given name from Irish.
Where does shaun come from?: It is traced to Irish.

How to pronounce shaun

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “shaun”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ʃoːn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “shaun”.
Repeat and practice — Say “shaun” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.