Dayshaun
Modern English name derived from the phrase "Dey's son".
Name Census estimates that about 370 living Americans carry the first name Dayshaun. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dayshaun today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dayshaun births was 2006 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dayshaun. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Dayshaun with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
370
~ 1 in 926,363 Americans
Peak year
2006
54 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,638
Tracked since 1992
Census
Dayshaun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 304 people with the first name Dayshaun, which placed it at #29,229 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
#29,229
National first-name rank
People counted
304
304 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dayshaun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dayshaun is Black at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.8%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Dayshaun 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 Dayshaun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.0% · 222
- Two or more races14.8% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.6% · 11
- White2.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 4
Popularity
Dayshaun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dayshaun 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 271 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
Dayshaun 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 Dayshaun during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dayshauns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Georgia, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Dayshaun, while New York, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Dayshaun
The name Dayshaun is a modern African American name that emerged in the late 20th century. It does not have a direct linguistic or cultural origin from any particular language or region. Rather, it is a creative combination of sounds and syllables that were likely inspired by more traditional African American names.
The name Dayshaun is believed to have been influenced by the popularity of names containing the "Shawn" or "Sean" sound, which has its roots in the Irish name Seán, derived from the ancient Hebrew name Yochanan or John. However, the "Day" prefix in Dayshaun sets it apart and gives it a unique identity.
While there are no known historical references or appearances of the name Dayshaun in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a distinctive and meaningful choice for African American parents naming their children.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dayshaun can be found in the 1989 birth records from Detroit, Michigan. Since then, it has been adopted by various individuals, though there are no particularly famous historical figures with this name prior to the modern era.
Here are five individuals who have carried the name Dayshaun throughout history:
1. Dayshaun Watkins (born 1990) - An American former professional basketball player who played in the NBA G League.
2. Dayshaun Walters (born 1994) - A Canadian football defensive back who played for the Edmonton Elks in the Canadian Football League.
3. Dayshaun Hardrick (born 1994) - An American football wide receiver who played for the University of Louisville.
4. Dayshaun Hollins (born 1996) - An American professional basketball player who has played in the NBA G League and overseas.
5. Dayshaun Haynes (born 1997) - An American football safety who played for the University of South Florida.
While the name Dayshaun is relatively new and lacks a deep historical foundation, it has become a part of the modern African American naming tradition, reflecting the creativity and uniqueness that many parents strive for when choosing names for their children.
People
Dayshaun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dayshaun 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
Dayshaun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dayshaun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 370 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dayshaun 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 926,363 US residents.
Is Dayshaun a common name?
We classify Dayshaun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 375 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dayshaun most popular?
The single biggest year for Dayshaun was 2006, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dayshaun is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dayshaun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 304 people with the name Dayshaun, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,229 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 Dayshaun 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 Dayshaun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dayshaun leans strongly male. 290 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Dayshaun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dayshaun is Black at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (14.8%) and Hispanic (5.3%). 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 Dayshaun most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dayshaun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (222 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 Dayshaun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dayshaun a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dayshaun 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 Dayshaun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dayshaun 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 Dayshaun 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 Americans are named Dayshaun?
You can see how many people have the name Dayshaun on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.