Dashaun
Combination of African names meaning "warrior" and "victory of life".
Name Census estimates that about 2,844 living Americans carry the first name Dashaun. It is a predominantly male name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Dashaun today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dashaun births was 2007 (138 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dashaun. 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
2.8K
~ 1 in 120,518 Americans
Peak year
2007
138 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,724
Tracked since 1971
Census
Dashaun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,133 people with the first name Dashaun, which placed it at #7,222 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
#7,222
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dashaun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dashaun is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.0%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Dashaun 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 Dashaun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American83.3% · 1,777
- Two or more races9.0% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 85
- White3.0% · 65
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Dashaun
Dashaun leans heavily male at 98.9% of total registrations, but 32 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dashaun as a male name
- Ranked #4,724 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (138 births)
Dashaun as a female name
- Ranked #14,707 in 1998
- 5 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1991 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dashaun leans strongly male. 2,048 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 86 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Dashaun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dashaun from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,177 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
Dashaun 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 Dashaun during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dashauns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. New York, North Carolina, Illinois recorded the most babies named Dashaun, while Mississippi, Louisiana, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dashaun
The name Dashaun has its origins in the African American culture, emerging in the late 20th century. It is a combination of the names Dashon and Shawn, both of which have roots in English and Irish origins. The prefix "Da" is believed to be a variation of the word "son" or "heir," while "Shawn" is derived from the Irish name Seán, meaning "God is gracious."
While there are no direct historical references to the name Dashaun in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components can be traced back to various sources. The name Dashon, for instance, is similar to the Old English name "Dæghsige," which means "day victory." Similarly, the name Shawn has connections to the biblical figure John, whose name in Hebrew means "God is gracious."
The earliest recorded examples of the name Dashaun can be found in birth records from the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States. However, it gained widespread popularity in the 1990s and early 2000s, particularly among African American families.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing variations of the name Dashaun. One of the earliest recorded individuals was Dashon Goldson (born 1984), an American professional football player who played as a safety in the National Football League (NFL) from 2007 to 2017. Another prominent figure is Dashon Burton (born 1982), an American operatic tenor who has performed with prestigious opera companies worldwide.
Another noteworthy individual is Dashoun Webster (born 1993), an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA G League. Additionally, Dashon Reed (born 1991) is an American professional basketball player who has played in various leagues around the world, including the NBA G League and leagues in New Zealand and Germany.
Lastly, Dashon Goldson (born 1984), a former American football safety, played in the NFL for teams such as the San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2007 to 2016, earning recognition as a two-time Pro Bowl selection.
People
Dashaun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dashaun as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dashaun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dashaun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,844 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dashaun 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 120,518 US residents.
Is Dashaun a common name?
We classify Dashaun as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,898 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dashaun most popular?
The single biggest year for Dashaun was 2007, when 138 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dashaun is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dashaun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,133 people with the name Dashaun, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,222 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 Dashaun 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 Dashaun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dashaun leans strongly male. 2,048 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 86 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Dashaun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dashaun is Black at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.0%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Dashaun most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dashaun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (1,777 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 Dashaun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dashaun a male name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Dashaun 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 Dashaun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dashaun 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 Dashaun 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 have Dashaun as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.