Lashanda
Feminine name of African American origin, loosely translating to "sweet one" or "she is sweet".
Name Census estimates that about 4,317 living Americans carry the first name Lashanda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lashanda today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lashanda births was 1980 (291 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lashanda. 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
4.3K
~ 1 in 79,396 Americans
Peak year
1980
291 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2010 SSA rank
#18,628
Tracked since 1962
Census
Lashanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,390 people with the first name Lashanda, which placed it at #5,155 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
#5,155
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,390 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lashanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lashanda is Black at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lashanda 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 Lashanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.6% · 3,072
- White4.1% · 139
- Two or more races2.7% · 92
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 10
Popularity
Lashanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lashanda from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,157 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lashanda 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 Lashanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lashandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Lashanda, while Maryland, Kentucky, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 161 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lashanda
The name Lashanda is a modern invented name that emerged in the late 20th century. It does not have roots in any particular language or culture from ancient times. The name appears to be a combination of common English name elements like "La" and "Shanda," but its origins and meaning are unclear.
There are no known historical references or ancient texts mentioning this name. It does not seem to have any direct connection to religious scriptures or historical records from previous eras. The name likely gained popularity in the United States during the latter half of the 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lashanda is Lashanda Clark, an American sprinter and hurdler who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics. She was born in 1959 and won a gold medal in the 4x400 meter relay at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Another notable person with the name Lashanda is Lashanda Kaleb, an American track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She competed in the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, representing the United States.
Lashanda Brown is an American basketball coach and former player. She played college basketball for the University of Tennessee and was a member of the team that won the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 1997.
Lashanda Burnett is an American politician who served as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 120 from 2019 to 2023.
Lashanda Monk is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur who founded the hair care company Koils by Nature, which specializes in products for natural and curly hair.
As the name Lashanda is a relatively modern invention, it does not have a deep historical background or ancient roots. Most notable individuals with this name have achieved prominence in recent decades, primarily within the United States.
People
Lashanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lashanda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lashanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lashanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lashanda 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 79,396 US residents.
Is Lashanda a common name?
We classify Lashanda as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,674 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lashanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Lashanda was 1980, when 291 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lashanda is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lashanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,390 people with the name Lashanda, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,155 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 Lashanda 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 Lashanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lashanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,393 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lashanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lashanda is Black at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lashanda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lashanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (3,072 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 Lashanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lashanda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lashanda 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 Lashanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lashanda 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 Lashanda 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 share the name Lashanda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.