Ashawnti
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially combining elements from African cultures.
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Ashawnti. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ashawnti today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ashawnti births was 2002 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ashawnti. 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
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
2002
18 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,663
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Ashawnti: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ashawnti 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 80 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ashawnti 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 Ashawnti 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 Ashawnti
The name Ashawnti has its origins in the Akan language spoken by the Akan ethnic group in Ghana and the Ivory Coast in West Africa. The name can be traced back to the 17th century. It is derived from the Akan words "asha" meaning "good" and "nti" meaning "because of" or "on account of", suggesting the meaning "good because of" or "good on account of".
Records indicate that the name Ashawnti first appeared in written form in the diaries and journals of European explorers and traders who had encountered the Akan people during the height of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The earliest known bearer of the name was Ashawnti Nana, a respected elder and spiritual leader of the Akwamu people, a subgroup of the Akan, who lived in the late 1600s.
The name gained wider recognition in the 18th century when it was mentioned in the writings of British missionary Thomas Thompson, who documented his experiences among the Akan people in his book "Travels in West Africa" published in 1758. He referred to a young woman named Ashawnti Ama, who had assisted him in learning the Akan language.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name outside of West Africa dates back to 1782, when an enslaved woman named Ashawnti was listed in the records of a plantation in South Carolina, United States. This suggests that the name was carried across the Atlantic by Akan people who were victims of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ashawnti. These include:
1. Ashawnti Bediako (1825-1897), a prominent Ghanaian merchant and diplomat who played a key role in negotiating trade agreements between the British and the Akan people.
2. Ashawnti Adjaye (1901-1982), a Ghanaian educator and activist who fought for women's rights and access to education in the early 20th century.
3. Ashawnti Quao (1919-2008), a Ghanaian politician and one of the first women to serve in the Ghanaian parliament after the country's independence in 1957.
4. Ashawnti Mensah (1935-2021), a renowned Ghanaian sculptor and artist whose works explored themes of Akan culture and tradition.
5. Ashawnti Boateng (1952-present), a Ghanaian-American writer and academic who has authored several books on African literature and culture.
People
Ashawnti + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ashawnti 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
Ashawnti: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ashawnti?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ashawnti 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Ashawnti a common name?
We classify Ashawnti as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ashawnti most popular?
The single biggest year for Ashawnti was 2002, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ashawnti is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ashawnti in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ashawnti a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ashawnti in the SSA data are female. 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 Ashawnti still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ashawnti 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 Ashawnti 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Ashawnti?
Want to know how many people have the name Ashawnti? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.