Lashona
A feminine name derived from Spanish, meaning "the language".
Name Census estimates that about 386 living Americans carry the first name Lashona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lashona today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lashona births was 1976 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lashona. 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
386
~ 1 in 887,965 Americans
Peak year
1976
32 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1996 SSA rank
#14,780
Tracked since 1969
Census
Lashona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 317 people with the first name Lashona, which placed it at #28,376 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
#28,376
National first-name rank
People counted
317
317 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lashona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lashona is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.9%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Lashona 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 Lashona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.1% · 273
- White6.9% · 22
- Two or more races3.8% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Lashona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lashona from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 230 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
Lashona 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 Lashona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lashonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, Mississippi, Texas recorded the most babies named Lashona, while Texas, Mississippi, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lashona
The name Lashona has its origins in the Swahili language, spoken primarily in East Africa. It is derived from the Swahili word "shona," which means "to adorn" or "to beautify." The name likely emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century, as the Swahili culture and language gained prominence across the region.
Lashona is believed to have been first used as a given name in coastal areas of Kenya and Tanzania, where Swahili was widely spoken. The name's popularity may have been influenced by the aesthetic and artistic traditions of these communities, which valued adornment and beautification.
There are no known historical references to the name Lashona in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it is possible that the name was used informally within Swahili-speaking communities before being recorded in written records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lashona dates back to the early 20th century. Lashona Mwajuma, a Tanzanian writer and activist, was born in 1912 and played a significant role in promoting women's rights and education in her country.
Another notable figure with the name Lashona is Lashona Decore Wittington (1928-2018), an American civil rights activist and community leader. Wittington was a prominent figure in the fight for racial equality and desegregation in the United States.
In the realm of sports, Lashona Bauchum (born 1973) is a former professional basketball player from the United States. She played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and represented her country in international competitions.
Lashona Monique Jones (born 1978) is an American singer and songwriter. She has collaborated with various artists and gained recognition for her soulful vocal performances.
Lashona Laree Vaughn (born 1979) is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in several TV shows and films, and her work often explores themes of identity and representation.
While the name Lashona may not be among the most common given names globally, it has a rich history rooted in the Swahili culture and language, and has been carried by notable individuals across various fields throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
People
Lashona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lashona 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
Lashona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lashona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 386 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lashona 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 887,965 US residents.
Is Lashona a common name?
We classify Lashona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 419 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lashona most popular?
The single biggest year for Lashona was 1976, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lashona is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lashona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 317 people with the name Lashona, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,376 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 Lashona 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 Lashona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lashona appears almost entirely female. Of the 310 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Lashona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lashona is Black at 86.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.9%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). 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 Lashona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lashona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.1% (273 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 Lashona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lashona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lashona 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 Lashona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lashona 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 Lashona 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 Lashona?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.