Rashawna
A feminine name of uncertain meaning and origin, possibly a variant of Rashawnda.
Name Census estimates that about 334 living Americans carry the first name Rashawna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rashawna today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashawna births was 1996 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashawna. 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
334
~ 1 in 1,026,211 Americans
Peak year
1996
26 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2010 SSA rank
#13,196
Tracked since 1975
Census
Rashawna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 262 people with the first name Rashawna, which placed it at #32,242 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
#32,242
National first-name rank
People counted
262
262 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashawna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashawna is Black at 78.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.5%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Rashawna 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 Rashawna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.6% · 206
- White11.5% · 30
- Two or more races5.7% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 4
Popularity
Rashawna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashawna from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 112 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
Rashawna 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 Rashawna 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 Rashawna
The name Rashawna is a relatively modern feminine given name that appears to have originated in the late 20th century. Its etymology is unclear, but it seems to be a combination of elements from various cultures and languages.
One possible origin is that it is derived from the Arabic name Rashid, meaning "rightly guided" or "righteous." This name has a long history in the Arab world and has been used for centuries. Rashawna could be a feminized version of this name, with the addition of the "-wna" suffix.
Another potential source is the Hebrew name Rasha, meaning "wicked" or "evil." This name has biblical roots and appears in the Old Testament. The addition of the "-wna" ending could be an attempt to soften or feminize the name.
It is also possible that Rashawna is a blend of various linguistic elements, combining elements from Arabic, Hebrew, and perhaps even African or Native American languages. The "-wna" ending has no clear linguistic origin, but it could be a creative alteration to make the name more unique and distinctive.
While the name Rashawna does not appear to have any notable historical references or appearances in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has gained some popularity in recent decades. Here are a few notable individuals who have borne this name throughout history:
1. Rashawna Bethea (born 1984), an American professional basketball player.
2. Rashawna Williams (born 1991), an American track and field athlete.
3. Rashawna Tompkins (born 1985), an American basketball coach.
4. Rashawna Barrett (born 1981), an American model and actress.
5. Rashawna Capers (born 1987), an American basketball player.
As a relatively modern name, Rashawna does not have a long historical record, but its unique blend of linguistic elements and its growing popularity in recent decades suggest that it may continue to be used and further establish its place in the annals of given names.
People
Rashawna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashawna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rashawna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashawna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 334 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashawna 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 1,026,211 US residents.
Is Rashawna a common name?
We classify Rashawna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 349 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashawna most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashawna was 1996, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashawna is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashawna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 262 people with the name Rashawna, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,242 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 Rashawna 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 Rashawna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashawna appears almost entirely female. Of the 265 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Rashawna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashawna is Black at 78.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.5%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Rashawna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rashawna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (206 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 Rashawna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashawna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashawna 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 Rashawna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashawna 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 Rashawna 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 are called Rashawna?
Want to know how many Americans are named Rashawna? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.