Seán
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223773106
2008-07-05T18:58:47Z
AltaredOne
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{{Infobox Given Name Revised
| name = Sean
| image=
| imagesize=
| caption=
| pronunciation={{IPA|/ʃɔn/}}<br>US: {{IPA|/ʃɑːn/}}
| gender = Male
| meaning = [[Yahweh]] is gracious
| region = [[Ireland]], [[Irish diaspora]]
| origin = Irish
| related names = Shaun, Shawn, Sean, [[Eoin]], [[John (first name)|John]]
| footnotes =
}}
'''Sean''' or '''Seán''' is an [[Irish language|Irish]] derivative of the name [[John]]. Common variants of the name include [[Shaun]] (chiefly [[United Kingdom|British]]), [[Shawn]] (chiefly [[USA]]), and [[Shane]]
Like the name [[John (first name)|John]], '''Sean''' has a long history that traces back to Hebrew name יוחנן Yôḥānnān, which means "[[Yahweh]] is gracious". [[Yahweh]] is treated as the name of [[God]] in Hebrew. 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 A.D. It was the given name of [[John the Baptist|Yochanan ben Zechariah]], a [[Jewish]] prophet known in English as [[John the Baptist]]. It was also the given name of [[John the Apostle|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 language|Greek]], and their name was adapted in Greek as Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs (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 [[John Chrysostom|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 [[Roman Britain|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 languages|Germanic]] '''Johann''', for example, and on the outskirts of the Empire in the newly converted [[Eire]] it became the [[Irish language|Irish]] '''Eoin'''. In some cases, the pronunciation of the "J" also changed from the original "Y", so that in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] the name eventually changed to the [[Spanish language|Spanish]] '''Juan''' and in [[Gaul]] to the French '''Jean'''.
In the [[11th century]] the [[France|French]] duke [[William of Normandy|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 [[Normans|Norman]] kings of [[England]] also conquered Ireland in the [[13th century]] and the [[14th century]]. The [[Ireland|Irish]] nobility was replaced by [[Normans|Norman]] nobles, some of whom bore the French name [[Jean]] or the [[Anglicisation|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 variant '''[[Shane]]'''.
[[Category:Given names]]
[[Category:Irish given names]]
[[de:Sean]]