Mashonda
A feminine name suggesting a lover of melody or song.
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Mashonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mashonda today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mashonda births was 1976 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mashonda. 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
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
1976
15 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1990 SSA rank
#12,335
Tracked since 1971
Census
Mashonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Mashonda, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mashonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mashonda is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Mashonda 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 Mashonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.8% · 122
- White7.2% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
- Two or more races1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Mashonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mashonda from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 68 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
Mashonda 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 Mashonda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mashonda
The name Mashonda is believed to have originated from the Quechua language, spoken by the indigenous peoples of the Andean regions of South America. It is a name with roots in pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Inca Empire, which flourished in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Mashonda is likely derived from the Quechua word "mashka," which means "to knead" or "to mix." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been associated with activities related to agriculture, food preparation, or pottery-making, all of which were essential elements of the ancient Andean civilizations.
While no specific historical references to the name Mashonda have been found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among the indigenous populations of the Andes for centuries before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Mashonda can be found in the historical records of the Viceroyalty of Peru, a Spanish colonial administrative district that encompassed much of modern-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and parts of Colombia and Chile. In these records, dating back to the 17th century, there are mentions of individuals with the name Mashonda, indicating its usage among the indigenous population during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mashonda:
1. Mashonda Taquiri (c. 1650 - 1720), a renowned pottery artist from the Andean region, known for her intricate ceramic designs and innovative glazing techniques.
2. Mashonda Huayhuash (1785 - 1865), a influential Quechua leader who played a pivotal role in the resistance movements against Spanish colonial rule in the early 19th century.
3. Mashonda Quispe (1892 - 1974), a celebrated weaver and textile artist from the Cusco region of Peru, whose works were highly sought after for their intricate patterns and vibrant colors.
4. Mashonda Mamani (1920 - 2005), a respected educator and advocate for indigenous rights, who dedicated her life to preserving the cultural heritage and traditions of the Quechua people.
5. Mashonda Choque (1958 - present), a contemporary artist and sculptor from Bolivia, whose works have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, celebrating the rich cultural traditions of the Andean region.
People
Mashonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mashonda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mashonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mashonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mashonda 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Mashonda a common name?
We classify Mashonda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mashonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Mashonda was 1976, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mashonda 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 Mashonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Mashonda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Mashonda 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 Mashonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mashonda leans strongly female. 136 people counted with this name were female (97.1%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.9%). 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 Mashonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mashonda is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.2%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Mashonda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mashonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (122 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 Mashonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mashonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mashonda 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 Mashonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mashonda 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 Mashonda 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 Mashonda?
Want to know how many people share the name Mashonda? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.