SEAN MILLER

Anglicized spelling of Seán (pronounced ‘shawn’), Irish equivalent of John. The name has always been common in Ireland, but since the 1960s has frequently been chosen (usually without the accent) by parents who have no Irish connections. One influence on its popularity has been the actor Sean Connery (b. 1930), of James Bond fame.

English and Scottish: occupational name for a miller. The standard modern vocabulary word represents the northern Middle English term, an agent derivative of mille ‘mill’, reinforced by Old Norse mylnari (see Milner). In southern, western, and central England Millward (literally, ‘mill keeper’) was the usual term. The American surname has absorbed many cognate surnames from other European languages, for example French Meunier, Dumoulin, Demoulins, and Moulin; German Mueller; Dutch Molenaar; Italian Molinaro; Spanish Molinero; Hungarian Molnár; Slavic Mlinar, etc.