Ashawn
An invented name interpreted to mean "precious or beloved gift".
Name Census estimates that about 258 living Americans carry the first name Ashawn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ashawn today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashawn births was 2017 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashawn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
258
~ 1 in 1,328,505 Americans
Peak year
2017
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,270
Tracked since 1995
Census
Ashawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 206 people with the first name Ashawn, which placed it at #37,688 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#37,688
National first-name rank
People counted
206
206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
80.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ashawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashawn is Black at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.7%) and White (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ashawn described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ashawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American80.1% · 165
- Two or more races9.7% · 20
- White3.4% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Ashawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashawn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 104 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Ashawn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashawn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ashawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ashawn
The name Ashawn is a relatively modern variant of the more traditional name Ashton, which has its origins in the Old English æsc (ash tree) and tun (settlement or town). This suggests that the name may have originally referred to a person who lived in or near an ash grove or a settlement surrounded by ash trees.
While the name Ashton can be traced back to medieval England, the specific spelling Ashawn seems to have emerged more recently, likely in the 20th century. It is possible that this variation arose as a result of linguistic evolution or as a creative spelling choice by parents seeking a unique twist on the classic name.
There are no known historical figures or prominent individuals explicitly recorded with the name Ashawn in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. This is likely due to the relatively modern nature of this particular spelling variation.
However, there have been notable individuals throughout history who bore the more traditional spelling of Ashton. One such person was Sir Ashton Lever (1729-1788), an English naturalist and collector who founded the Leverian Museum, one of the first public museums in London.
Another individual with the name Ashton was Ashton Carter (1954-present), an American politician and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama.
In the realm of literature, Ashton Hillers (1858-1919) was an American author and publisher known for his works on the history and culture of the American West, including his book "The Prospector's Field-Book and Guide."
Ashton Kutcher (born 1978) is a contemporary American actor, producer, and former model who rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s through his role in the sitcom "That '70s Show."
Finally, Ashton Sanders (born 1995) is an American actor best known for his critically acclaimed performance in the 2016 film "Moonlight," for which he received several award nominations and accolades.
While the specific spelling Ashawn may not have a long and storied history, it is a modern variation of a name with roots in Old English, reflecting the linguistic evolution and creative choices that shape the ever-changing landscape of personal names.
People
Ashawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashawn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ashawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 258 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashawn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,328,505 US residents.
Is Ashawn a common name?
We classify Ashawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 261 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashawn was 2017, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashawn is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ashawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 206 people with the name Ashawn, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,688 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ashawn in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ashawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ashawn leans strongly male. 191 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 13 female bearers (6.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ashawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ashawn is Black at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.7%) and White (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ashawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ashawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.1% (165 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ashawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashawn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashawn in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ashawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashawn in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ashawn can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Ashawn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.