Shin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Ireland

The surname Shin is originally a name that appeared in Gaelic as Ó Seanachain, which is derived from the word "sean," meaning "old."

Early Origins of the Shin family

The surname Shin was first found in County Clare (Irish: An Clár) located on the west coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from very ancient times.

Early History of the Shin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Shin research. Another 92 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1318, 1802, 1863, 1877, 1916 and 1937 are included under the topic Early Shin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shin Spelling Variations

Scribes and church officials, lacking today's standardized spelling rules, recorded names by how they were pronounced. This imprecise guide often led to the misleading result of one person's name being recorded under several different spellings. Numerous spelling variations of the surname Shin are preserved in documents of the family history. The various spellings of the name that were found include Shanahan, O'Shanahan, Shahan, Shannon, Gilshenan and many more.

Early Notables of the Shin family

Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Shin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Shin Ranking

In the United States, the name Shin is the 3,430^th most popular surname with an estimated 9,948 people with that name. 1

Shin migration to the United States +

A massive wave of Irish immigrants hit North America during the 19th century. Although many early Irish immigrants made a carefully planned decision to leave left Ireland for the promise of free land, by the 1840s immigrants were fleeing a famine stricken land in desperation. The condition of Ireland during the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s can be attributed to a rapidly expanding population and English imperial policies. Those Irish families that arrived in North America were essential to its rapid social, industrial, and economic development. Passenger and immigration lists have revealed a number of early Irish immigrants bearing the name Shin:

Shin Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Thomas Shin, who landed in Virginia in 1714 2

Shin Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Amelia Shin, aged 2, who landed in New York, NY in 1850 2
Charlotte Shin, aged 4, who arrived in New York, NY in 1850 2
Hannah Shin, aged 21, who landed in New York, NY in 1850 2
J R Shin, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1855 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Shin (post 1700) +

Patricia Shin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1996 3
Haeryung Shin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Washington, 2008 3
Yaw Shin Leong (1976-2023), Singaporean businessman and politician

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 22) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html