SHANNON

'Shannon'
Gender:	Female
Origin:	Irish
Meaning:	''wise river''

'Shannon' is a name originated in Ireland and is directly linked to the country's longest river. The name is now used as a first name for both males and females. The name of the river is a combination of Irish ''sean'' "old, wise" and ''abhainn'' "river".^[1]
'Shannon' can also be a short form of 'Shanahan', a variant of the Irish masculine name Seanán, which means "little wise person" or "small but wise".^[2]
The name became popular with descendants of Irish-American emigrants who decided to name their children after various placenames in Ireland in an effort to hold on to their heritage.
Other examples are Kerry and Erin which, like "Shannon" although having their origins in Ireland were uncommonly used as first names within Ireland until very recently (perhaps the past 2-5 years). Use of the name in media circles has popularized it, thus making it more common.
''Shannon'' can refer to the following:

Contents

Places

In Ireland

In the United States

Elsewhere

People

Surname

Forename

Other

Places

In Ireland

★ River Shannon, Ireland's longest river

★ Shannon, County Clare, a town near the river in County Clare

★ Shannon Airport near the town

★ Shannon Free Zone business park near the airport

★ Shannon R.F.C. Ireland's most successful rugby club, based in Limerick City

★ Shannonbridge, County Offaly

In the United States

★ Shannon, Georgia

★ Shannon, Illinois

★ Shannon, Mississippi

★ Shannon, North Carolina

★ Shannon County, Missouri

★ Shannon County, South Dakota

★ Shannon Hills, Arkansas

★ Castle Shannon, Pennsylvania

Elsewhere

★ Shannon, New Zealand

★ Shannon, Quebec in Canada

★ Shannon Falls Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada

People

Surname

★ Bob Shannon, radio personality

★ Bob Shannon, wrote first bulletin board system (BBS) for the Commodore VIC-20

★ Claude E. Shannon, information theorist

★ Darryl Shannon, former NHL player

★ David Shannon, Author

★ Del Shannon, rock singer/songwriter

★ Frederick A. Shannon, herpetologist

★ James Jebusa Shannon, Anglo-American painter

★ James Shannon, Democratic politician from Massachusetts

★ Mike Shannon, former American NLB player, sportscaster

★ Molly Shannon, actress appeared on ''Saturday Night Live''

★ Paul Shannon, television presenter

★ Randy Shannon, football coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes

★ Scott Shannon, radio personality

★ Sharon Shannon, Irish musician

★ T. Sean Shannon, comedy writer

★ Terry Shannon, computer technology journalist

★ Thomas A. Shannon, Jr., Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs

★ William V. Shannon, former editor of the ''New York Times''

Forename

★ Shannon Hoon, Richard Shannon Hoon, Singer, Musician, Lead singer of the band Blind Melon.

★ Marty Wilde, pseudonym Shannon, real name Reginald Leonard Smith.

★ Shannon (singer), real name Brenda Shannon Greene.

★ Shannon Elizabeth American actress

★ Shannon Leto, drummer of the American band 30 Seconds to Mars.

★ Shannon Moore, professional wrestler.

★ Shannon Noll, Australian rock singer.

★ Shannon Rutherford a fictional character from the television series ''Lost''

★ Shannon Spruill, a professional wrestler who has performed as "Shannon".

★ Shannon Stewart, runner-up on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 1.

★ Shannon Hale, an author known for young-adult fiction.

★ Shannon Lee Tweed, a well known actress

★ Shannon Bramer, a Canadian poet

Other

★ HMS ''Shannon'' name of several naval ships

★ Shannon Development a development company in Ireland

★ Shannon (Formula One) a defunct Formula One constructor

★ Shannon RFC rugby club in Limerick

★ "Shannon", a 1950's short-lived American television series

★ "Shannon", a song released in 1976 by Henry Gross about a deceased dog

★ Shannon index of Biodiversity

★ The bit, a unit of information, is also known as a ''shannon'' after the aforementioned Claude E. Shannon.