Siobhán is a female name of Irish origin. The most common anglicisations are Siobhan (identical to the Irish spelling but omitting the acute accent over the 'a'), Shavawn, Shebahn, Shevaun and Shivaun. A now uncommon spelling variant is Siubhán. It is derived from the Anglo-Norman and (Modern French ), which were introduced into Ireland by the

Anglo-Normans The Anglo-Normans (, ) were the medieval ruling class in the Kingdom of England following the Norman Conquest. They were primarily a combination of Normans, Bretons, Flemings, French people, Frenchmen, Anglo-Saxons and Celtic Britons. Afte ...

in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The name first appears in the surviving

Irish annals A number of Irish annals, of which the earliest was the Chronicle of Ireland, were compiled up to and shortly after the end of the 17th century. Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days. Over ti ...

in the early fourteenth century. The name is thus a

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...

of the Welsh ''

Siân Siân (also Sian, Shân, Shahn; , ) is a Welsh feminine given name, equivalent to the English Jane, Scottish Sheena or Irish Siobhán. List of people with the name * Sian Barbara Allen (1946–2025), American film and television actress * ...

'' and the English '' Joan'', derived from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and (modern English ''Joanna'', ''Joanne''), which are in turn from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

(). This Greek name is a feminine form of the Greek (), which is in turn a shortened form of the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

( , a shortened form of ), meaning 'God is gracious', and origin of the masculine name ''

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

'' and its cognates. The popularity of the actress

Siobhán McKenna Siobhán McKenna (; 24 May 1922 – 16 November 1986) was an Irish stage and screen actress. Early life She was born Siobhán Giollamhuire Nic Cionnaith in Belfast in the newly created Northern Ireland into a Catholic and nationalist family. ...

(1923–1986) helped the resurgence of the name in the 20th century. The

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

form of the name is Siobhàn (which is sometimes anglicised ''

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

''). The male Irish forms of the name are and ''Eóin''.

People

* Siobhan Baillie (born 1981), British politician *

Siobhan Benita Siobhan Benita (' Pook; born 11 October 1971) is a British former civil servant. She was an independent candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election. She was then the Liberal Democrat candidate in the London mayoral election originally planne ...

(born 1971), British politician and former civil servant * Siobhan Brooks, American sociologist * Siobhan Byrne (born 1984), German-born Irish sabre fencer * Siobhan Chamberlain (born 1983), British footballer * Shivaune Christina, Australian former model and Miss Earth Australia 2003 *

Siobhán Cleary Siobhán Cleary (born 10 May 1970) is an Irish composer. Her most successful compositions have been her orchestral works ''Alchemy'' and ''Cokaygne'' and her choral piece ''Theophilus Thistle and the Myth of Miss Muffett''. Her opera ''Vampirell ...

, Irish composer *

Siobhán Coady Siobhán Coady (; born November 11, 1960) is a Canadian businesswoman and politician who represents the riding of St. John's West in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as a Liberal. Coady previously served as the Liberal Member of ...

, Canadian politician and businesswoman * Siobhán Creaton, Irish journalist *

Siobhán Cullen Siobhán Kate Cullen (born 31 January 1990) is an Irish actress. She began her career as a child actress, making her debut in Marina Carr's ''By the Bog of Cats'' (1998) at the Abbey Theatre. She landed her first major screen role in Eoin Macken' ...

, Irish actress *

Siobhan Davies Dame Siobhan Davies DBE (born Susan Davies; 18 September 1950, London), often known as Sue Davies, is an English dancer and choreographer. She was a dancer with the London Contemporary Dance Theatre during the 1970s, and became one of its leadi ...

, English choreographer * Siobhan de Maré, singer-songwriter *

Siobhan Dillon Siobhan Patricia Dillon (born 1 September 1984) is an English actress and singer, who rose to fame when she performed in the British talent show-themed television series '' How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?'' on BBC One in 2006. Since then ...

, English singer *

Siobhán Donaghy Siobhán Emma Donaghy (born 14 June 1984) is a British singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the girl group Sugababes. Donaghy left Sugababes in 2001 and released her debut solo album, '' Revolution in Me'', in 2003. Her seco ...

, English singer and original/current member of the

Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...

Siobhan Dowd Siobhan Dowd (4 February 1960 – 21 August 2007) was a British writer and activist. The last book she completed, '' Bog Child'', posthumously won the 2009 Carnegie Medal from the professional librarians, recognising the year's best book fo ...

, English writer *

Siobhan Fahey Siobhan Maire Deirdre Fahey (; born 10 September 1958) is an Irish singer whose vocal range is a light contralto. She was a founding member of the British girl group Bananarama, who have had ten top-10 hits including the List of Billboard Hot ...

, Irish singer who was a member of Bananarama and Shakespears Sister *

Siobhan Fallon Hogan Siobhan Fallon Hogan ( ; Fallon; born May 13, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her collaborations with director Lars von Trier, she has appeared in three of his features to date: ''Dancer in the Dark'' (200 ...

, American actress *

Siobhan Finneran Siobhan Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is an English actress. She made her screen debut in the independant film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1986) and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation St ...

, English actress *

Siobhán Haughey Siobhán Bernadette Haughey ( ; ; ; born 31 October 1997) is a Hong Kong competitive swimmer. She became the first Hong Kong swimmer to win an Olympic medal and the first Hong Kong athlete to win two Olympic medals in any sport, after winning ...

, Irish-Hong Kong swimmer and Olympic silver medalists * Siobhan Hayes, British actress *

Siobhán Hapaska Siobhán Hapaska (born 1963) is an Irish sculptor. Early life and education Hapaska was born in Belfast and studied art at Middlesex Polytechnic from 1985 to 1988 before completing a master's degree at Goldsmiths College in 1992. In 1993 she ...

, Irish sculptor * Siobhan Healy (born 1976), Scottish artist *

Siobhán Hoey Siobhán Hoey (born 17 July 1970) is an Ireland, Irish sportswoman from Portarlington, County Laois, Portarlington, County Laois. She has competed in both track and field and bobsleigh. Athletics career Hoey's junior athletics career saw her foc ...

, Irish sportswoman *

Siobhan Hunter Siobhan Hunter (born 10 April 1994) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a defender for Hibernian in the Scottish Women's Premier League. Club career Hunter first signed with Hibernian youth as a 9-year old in March 2004. In the 2017 Scotti ...

, Scottish footballer * Siobhán Killeen, Irish footballer * Siobhan Leachman, New Zealand citizen scientist * Siobhan MacGowan, Anglo-Irish singer * Siobhan Magnus, American contestant on American Idol, Season 9. * Siobhan Maher Kennedy, singer *

Siobhan Marshall Siobhan Marshall is a New Zealand actress best known for her role as Pascalle West from the comedy/drama series '' Outrageous Fortune'' (2005–2010). Career Marshall attended Auckland's Unitec School of Performing Screen Arts and graduated ...

, New Zealand actress * Siobhán McCarthy, Irish actress of musical theater *

Siobhain McDonagh Dame Siobhain Ann McDonagh (born 20 February 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mitcham and Morden since 1997. She served as an Assistant Whip in the Labour Government, but was dismisse ...

(born 1960), British Labour Party MP * Siobhan McGarry, Northern Irish television presenter *

Siobhán McHugh Siobhán McHugh is an Irish-Australian author, podcast producer and critic, oral historian, audio documentary-maker and journalism academic. In 2013 she founded ''RadioDoc Review'', the first journal of critical analysis of crafted audio storytelli ...

, Irish-Australian author, podcaster and documentary-maker *

, Irish, Tony Award-winning actress *

Siobhán McSweeney Siobhán McSweeney (born 27 December 1979) is an Irish actress and presenter. She is best known for her role as Sister Michael in the teen sitcom ''Derry Girls'' which earned her a British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA British Acad ...

, Irish actress * Siobhan Miller, Scottish folk singer * Shevaun Mizrahi, Turkish-American documentary filmmaker * Siobhán O'Brien, Irish singer-songwriter * Siobhán O'Hanlon, Irish activist *

Siobhan O'Sullivan Siobhan O'Sullivan (19 March 1974 – 17 June 2023) was an Australian political scientist and political theorist. She was an associate professor in the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales. Her research focused, among other ...

, Australian political scientist and political theorist * Siobhán Parkinson, Irish author of several children's books, including ''Kathleen: The Celtic Knot'' * Siobhan Paton, Australian Paralympic swimmer * Siobhan Reddy, British video game executive *

Siobhan Redmond Siobhan Redmond ( ; born 27 July 1959) is a Scottish actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and known for various stage, audio and television roles such as Anne Marie in '' Two Doors Down''. Early life Siobhan Redmond was born on ...

, Scottish actress *

Siobhan Roberts Siobhan Roberts is a Canadian science journalist, biographer, and historian of mathematics. Education Roberts was born in Belleville, Ontario. She earned a degree in history at Queen's University, then a graduate degree in journalism from Rye ...

, Canadian science journalist * Siobhan Thompson,

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

writer, comedian * Siobhan Wescott, Alaskan Athabaskan educator *

Siobhan Williams Siobhan Williams (born 10 January) is a British-born Canadian actress. Career Williams's first role was as recurring character Jamie Lewis on ''Heartland (Canadian TV series), Heartland''. In 20th Century Studios, 20th Century Fox's ''Flicka: C ...

, Canadian actress

Fictional characters

* Siobhan, one of Christopher's teachers at school in Mark Haddon's ''

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Haddon and ''The Curious Incident'' won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Pri ...

'' * Siobhan, a female vampire appearing in the last book of ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' by

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...

* Siobhan Andrews, a smart third-grader in the television series ''

Hey Arnold! ''Hey Arnold!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Craig Bartlett for Nickelodeon. It originally aired from October 7, 1996, to June 8, 2004. The show centers on fourth grader Arnold Shortman, who lives with his grandparents in an inner ...

'' * Siobhan Beckett, a character from the science fiction series '' Earth: Final Conflict'' * Siobhan Brody, mother of Roarke's mother in J. D. Robb's ''

In Death The ''...in Death'' series of novels and novellas is written by Nora Roberts under her pseudonym J. D. Robb. Set in a mid-21st-century New York City, they feature NYPSD ("New York City Police and Security Department") lieutenant Eve Dallas and h ...

'' novels *

Siobhan Clarke This is a list of characters from the ''Inspector Rebus'' series of detective novels by the Scottish writer Ian Rankin. They are all fictional characters that have appeared in more than one novel in the series. A number of the characters appea ...

, Detective Sergeant in Ian Rankin's ''John Rebus'' novels * Siobhan Kelly, deputy in the Cinemax series ''

Banshee A banshee ( ; Irish language, Modern Irish , from , "woman of the Tumulus#Ireland, fairy mound" or "fairy woman") is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member, usually by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or kee ...

'' * Siobhan Martin, one of the twin sisters portrayed by

Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Michelle Prinze ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American actress. After being spotted by a talent agent as a young child, she made her film debut at age six in the television film ''An Invasion of Privacy'' (1983). She had her first lead ...

in the short-lived drama ''

Ringer Ringer(s) may refer to: Sports and games * Ringer, in sports idiom, an impostor, especially one whose pretense is intended to gain an advantage in a competition * Road course ringer, a non-NASCAR driver hired to race at a road course * A game p ...

'' * Siobhan McDougal, also known as

Silver Banshee Silver Banshee is the name of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, with both primarily as opponents of Superman. The first, Siobhan McDougal, made her debut in ''Action Comics'' #595 while the second, Siobha ...

, a DC Comics supervillain * Siobhan Mooney, daughter of detective Jack Mooney, a character in the TV series,

Death in Paradise ''Death in Paradise'' is a crime drama, crime television series created by Robert Thorogood, starring Ben Miller (Series 1–3), Kris Marshall (Series 3–6), Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 6–9), Ralf Little (Series 9–13) and Don Gilet (2024 Speci ...

* Siobhan Pattinson, one of the two main characters of the LGBT webcomic ''Outsiders'' * Siobhan "Shiv" Roy, the daughter of patriarch Logan Roy on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

'' * Siobhan, Cassidy's girlfriend and character from J Kenner's Stark ''International'' trilogy. Also appears in ''Deepest Kiss'', ''Hold me'', ''Wicked Grind'', ''Sweetest Taboo'' and ''Anchor Me''. * Siobhan Ryan, daughter of Maeve and Johnny Ryan on the American daytime soap opera ''Ryan's Hope'' from 1978 to 1989 * Siobhan Sadler, also known as "Mrs. S" a foster mother to two of the main characters in the television series ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian science-fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, one of several genetically identica ...

'' * Siobhan Sharpe, head of brand for the Olympic Deliverance Commission in the BBC television series ''

Twenty Twelve ''Twenty Twelve'' is a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-location mockumentary following the organisation of the 2012 Summe ...

'' * Shevaun Tillman, a character in

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was a British and American writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his ''Asian Saga'' nov ...

's novel ''

Tai-Pan A taipan (,Andrew J. Moody, "Transmission Languages and Source Languages of Chinese Borrowings in English", ''American Speech'', Vol. 71, No. 4 (Winter, 1996), pp. 414–415. literally "top class"汉英词典 — ''A Chinese-English Dictionary ...

'' * Siobhan O'Brien, a character in Sung J. Woo's novel ''Skin Deep'' * Siobhán O’Sullivan, a garda in Carlene O'Connor's The Irish Village Mysteries * Siobhan Sheehan, character in HBO series ''

Mare of Easttown ''Mare of Easttown'' is an American crime drama television miniseries created and written by Brad Ingelsby for HBO. Directed by Craig Zobel, the series premiered on April 18, 2021, and concluded on May 30, 2021, consisting of seven episodes. It ...

'' * Siobhán, the lead character in the 2019 film, '' Sea Fever''. * Siobhan Kelly, a character in Beth O'Leary's ''The No-Show'' * Siobhan Klaxon, a character in the 2022 stop-motion horror comedy film, '' Wendell & Wild'' * Siobhán Súilleabháin, a character in the 2022 comedy-drama film, ''

The Banshees of Inisherin ''The Banshees of Inisherin'' () is a 2022 black tragicomedy film directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh. Set on a remote fictional island off the west coast of Ireland in 1923, the film stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson a ...

'' * Siobhan Corbyn, a character in the 2023 TV series " American Horror Story: Delicate" * Siobhan O’Malley, daughter of the barkeepers in

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

song O'Malley's Bar

Diminutive

Siobhán has a corresponding diminutive form, Sinéad (after French Jeannette). Examples of this name include the late

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

References

External links

Index of Names in Irish Annals: Siobhán
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siobhan Irish-language feminine given names English-language feminine given names Feminine given names

People

Fictional characters

Diminutive

See also

References

External links