How Many People Are Named Sean Kelly?
There are approximately 345 people named Sean Kelly living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 993,491 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Sean with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Kelly. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
345
1 in 993,491 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profileSean
Last Name
View full profileKelly
Sean: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Sean. The peak year was 1990 with 12,070 births. The average person named Sean today is 39 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Sean
In the 2020 Census, the first name Sean was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (76.52%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (8.52%) and Hispanic (6.16%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Sean in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Sean rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Kelly Surname
The surname Kelly was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Kelly in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Sean" has an estimated frequency of 0.118% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Kelly" appears at a rate of 85.49 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Sean are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 345 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Sean
Other people with the surname Kelly
Sean Kelly: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Sean Kelly?
We estimate approximately 345 people named Sean Kelly are alive in the United States today. The first name Sean is shared by 403,789 Americans, and the surname Kelly is shared by 293,007.
How rare is the name Sean Kelly?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 993,491 Americans. The first name Sean is common and the surname Kelly is common.
Is Sean a male or female name?
Sean is predominantly male, with 99.3% of bearers being male and 0.7% female. It peaked in popularity in 1990 and the average bearer today is 39 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Sean?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Sean was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (76.52%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (8.52%) and Hispanic (6.16%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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