Kashawn
A combination of names Ka and Shawn, derived from the Irish word "Séan" meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 1,158 living Americans carry the first name Kashawn. It is a predominantly male name (93.4% of registrations). The average person named Kashawn today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kashawn births was 1994 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kashawn. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 295,988 Americans
Peak year
1994
54 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,477
Tracked since 1973
Census
Kashawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 863 people with the first name Kashawn, which placed it at #13,850 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
#13,850
National first-name rank
People counted
863
863 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kashawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kashawn is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kashawn 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 Kashawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.9% · 759
- Two or more races5.8% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 32
- White1.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Kashawn
Kashawn leans heavily male at 93.4% of total registrations, but 78 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Kashawn as a male name
- Ranked #7,477 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (52 births)
Kashawn as a female name
- Ranked #14,572 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1978 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kashawn leans strongly male. 761 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 102 female bearers (11.8%).
Popularity
Kashawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kashawn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 390 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
Kashawn 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 Kashawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kashawns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Virginia recorded the most babies named Kashawn, while South Carolina, Ohio, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kashawn
The given name Kashawn traces its origins to the African American community, emerging as a distinct name in the latter half of the 20th century. Its precise etymology remains unclear, but it is believed to be a creative blend of elements from various African languages and dialects, reflecting the cultural diversity of the African American experience.
One theory suggests that Kashawn may have its roots in the Swahili language, with a possible connection to the word "kashavu," which means "to be beautiful" or "to be handsome." This connection would align with a common practice of incorporating positive attributes or aspirations into personal names within African traditions.
Another hypothesis links Kashawn to the Yoruba language, where the prefix "Ka" is often used to denote a child or offspring. In this context, Kashawn could be interpreted as a symbolic representation of a cherished child or an embodiment of familial hopes and dreams.
While no definitive historical references or ancient texts explicitly mention the name Kashawn, its emergence can be traced back to the late 20th century, when it gained popularity within African American communities as a unique and culturally significant name choice.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Kashawn can be found in the 1970s, when it began appearing in birth records and official documents. However, it wasn't until the 1980s and 1990s that the name gained more widespread recognition and usage.
Throughout its relatively short history, several notable individuals have borne the name Kashawn:
1. Kashawn Williams (born 1992), an American professional basketball player who played for the Detroit Pistons in the NBA.
2. Kashawn Campbell (born 1995), an American football defensive back who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the NFL.
3. Kashawn Freeman (born 1981), an American film director and screenwriter known for his work on the critically acclaimed film "Blackbird."
4. Kashawn Rutherford (born 1988), an American musician and singer-songwriter known for his contributions to the R&B and neo-soul genres.
5. Kashawn Harris (born 1990), an American activist and community organizer who has been recognized for his work in promoting social justice and empowering underserved communities.
While the name Kashawn may be relatively new in the annals of human history, its emergence reflects the rich cultural tapestry of the African American experience and the enduring tradition of imbuing personal names with profound meaning and significance.
People
Kashawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kashawn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kashawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kashawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,158 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kashawn 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 295,988 US residents.
Is Kashawn a common name?
We classify Kashawn as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,183 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kashawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Kashawn was 1994, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kashawn 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 Kashawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 863 people with the name Kashawn, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,850 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 Kashawn 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 Kashawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kashawn leans strongly male. 761 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 102 female bearers (11.8%). 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 Kashawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kashawn is Black at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.8%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Kashawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Kashawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (759 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 Kashawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kashawn a male name?
Yes, 93.4% of people registered as Kashawn 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 Kashawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kashawn 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 Kashawn 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 the name Kashawn?
Want to know how many people have the name Kashawn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.