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[Added missing pronunciations, 12 Jun 200, Arval]
Greetings,
We were unable to document "Shawna" as an Irish name. "Sean" is a common Irish mens' name, but its feminine forms are "Siban" and "Siobhan" (pronounced \SHEEV-ahn\ and \SHIV-ahn\ respectively). We can also suggest the name "Seanait," which would be the likely feminine form of the name "Seanan."
"A" is a feminine ending in Latin and Romance languages, and so English- speakers associate names ending in "a" with women. But Gaelic doesn't use "a" for this, so the female forms of "Sean" are different.
We haven't looked through other languages because our research is historically oriented; we don't have the resources to do a search through every culture for a name.
If you're in need of any other help, please let us know. Pedro de Alcazar, Solveig Throndarsdottir, Arval d'Espas Nord, Evan da Collaureo, and Elsbeth Anne Roth all contributed to the research on your name.
In Service,
Alan Fairfax
Academy of St. Gabriel