Dashawna
A feminine name of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly a variant of the Sanskrit "Dasha" meaning "ten".
Name Census estimates that about 469 living Americans carry the first name Dashawna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Dashawna today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dashawna births was 1997 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dashawna. 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
469
~ 1 in 730,819 Americans
Peak year
1997
29 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2019 SSA rank
#16,119
Tracked since 1977
Census
Dashawna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 359 people with the first name Dashawna, which placed it at #26,116 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
#26,116
National first-name rank
People counted
359
359 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dashawna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dashawna is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (4.7%). 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 Dashawna 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 Dashawna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.1% · 302
- Two or more races7.5% · 27
- White4.7% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Dashawna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dashawna from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 209 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dashawna 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 Dashawna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dashawnas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dashawna
The name Dashawna has its origins in a combination of African-American and Native American cultures. It is believed to have emerged in the southern United States during the late 19th or early 20th century, a time when many African-American families were integrating elements of Native American culture and language into their naming practices.
The first part of the name, "Dasha," is thought to be derived from the Russian name "Darya," which itself has roots in the Persian word "Daryā," meaning "sea" or "ocean." This could suggest a connection to water or the natural world. The second part, "wna," is believed to have been inspired by the Native American Choctaw language, where it may have meant "child" or "daughter."
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dashawna was Dashawna Simmons, a writer and activist born in Mississippi in 1932. She was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement and wrote several influential works on the African-American experience. Sadly, Simmons passed away in 2001 at the age of 69.
Another notable Dashawna was Dashawna Littlebear, a Native American artist and poet from Oklahoma, born in 1948. Littlebear's work often explored themes of identity, cultural preservation, and the natural world. She received numerous awards and accolades throughout her career before her passing in 2017 at the age of 69.
In the realm of sports, Dashawna Johnson was a celebrated track and field athlete from Texas, born in 1972. Johnson won multiple medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships in the 1990s and early 2000s, excelling in sprinting and relay events.
The name Dashawna also has a historical connection to the arts, with Dashawna Wilkins being a renowned dancer and choreographer from Georgia, born in 1960. Wilkins founded her own dance company and was instrumental in preserving and promoting traditional African-American dance forms throughout her career.
Finally, Dashawna Whitehead, born in 1978 in California, was a pioneering scientist and engineer. Whitehead made significant contributions to the field of renewable energy technologies, and her work helped pave the way for the development of more sustainable and eco-friendly energy solutions.
While the name Dashawna may be relatively uncommon, it carries a rich tapestry of cultural influences and has been borne by individuals who have made lasting impacts in various fields throughout history.
People
Dashawna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dashawna 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
Dashawna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dashawna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 469 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dashawna 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 730,819 US residents.
Is Dashawna a common name?
We classify Dashawna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 483 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dashawna most popular?
The single biggest year for Dashawna was 1997, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dashawna is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dashawna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 359 people with the name Dashawna, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,116 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 Dashawna 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 Dashawna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dashawna leans strongly female. 353 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Dashawna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dashawna is Black at 84.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (4.7%). 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 Dashawna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dashawna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.1% (302 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 Dashawna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dashawna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dashawna 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 Dashawna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dashawna 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 Dashawna 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 common is the name Dashawna?
You can see how many people share the name Dashawna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.