Origin
The name was adopted into the Irish language most likely from ''Jean'', the French variant of the Hebrew name ''Yohanan''. As Gaelic has no letter (derived from ; English also lacked until the late 17th Century, with ''John'' previously been spelt ''Iohn'') so it is substituted by , as was the normal Gaelic practice for adapting Biblical names that contain in other languages (''Sine''/''Siobhàn'' for ''Joan/Jane/Anne/Anna''; ''Seonaid''/''Sinéad'' for ''Janet''; ''Seumas''/''Séamus'' for ''James''; ''Seosamh''/''Seòsaidh'' for ''Joseph'', etc.). In 1066, the Normandy, Norman duke, William the Conqueror conquered England, where the Norman French name Jahan/Johan (, ) came to be pronounced ''Jean'', and spelled John (given name), John. The Norman from the Welsh Marches, with the Norman King of England's mandate invaded parts of Leinster and Munster in the 1170s. The Ireland, Irish nobility in these areas were replaced by Norman nobles, some of whom bore the Norman French name Johan or the anglicisation, anglicised name John. The Irish adapted the name to their own pronunciation and spelling, producing the name Seán (or Seathan). Sean is commonly pronounced (Irish: ''Seán'' ; (Ulster Irish, Ulster dialect: ) or (Irish: , with acute accent, fada on , not , thus leading to the variant Shane (disambiguation), Shane.) The name was once the common equivalent of John in Gàidhealtachd, Gaelic-speaking areas of Scotland, but has been supplanted by a vulgarization of its address form: ''Iain'' or ''Ian''. When addressing someone named Seán in Irish language, Irish, it becomes ''a Sheáin'' , and in Scotland was generally adapted into Scots language, Scots and Highland English as Eathain, Eoin, Iain, and Ian (''John'' has traditionally been more commonly used in the Scots-speaking Lowlands than any form of Seán). Even in Highland areas where Gaelic is still spoken, these anglicisations are now more common than Seán or Seathan, undoubtedly due in part to registrars in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland having long been instructed not to register Gaelic names in birth or baptismal registrations.In other languages
* English language, English: Sean, Seon, Shane, Shayne, Shaine, Shon, Shaun, Shawn, Seann, Shaan * cy, italics=no, Sion, Shôn * Scottish Gaelic, Highland English and Scots language, Scots: Eathain, Eoin, Iain, Ian * ko, 션, , , * ja, ショーン * zh, 肖恩, * ar, شان * he, שוןSee also
* List of people named Sean * Eoin * Alternate forms for the name John * John (given name)References
External links
