Shaun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine first name of Irish origin, the Irish form of the name John
2. A male given name derived from the Irish version of John, used mainly in Britain and Ireland
3. Masculine personal name of Irish origin, a variant of John, common in English-speaking countries

Etymology: Shaun is a name that started life as a French nickname for John. The Hebrew name Yōḥānān meant "God is gracious," and it passed through Greek and Latin as Ioannes and Johannes. In medieval France it became Jehan, and that form was then shortened and reshaped into Seán in Irish, the name that was later anglicised as Shaun. The same root sits behind John, Jack, Ian, Evan, Ivan and Giovanni, so Shaun is one branch of a very large family tree. The English spelling is the Irish name in disguise. Seán was written with an "ea" that English readers pronounce as "shaw," so the anglicised form kept the sound and the letters were rearranged to suit English eyes. Because the name arrived via Irish rather than directly from Latin, it carries a different flavour from its Johannine cousins even though the meaning is identical.