Roshawn
A masculine name of obscure origin, possibly combining "Rose" and "Shawn".
Name Census estimates that about 1,286 living Americans carry the first name Roshawn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Roshawn today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roshawn births was 1976 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roshawn. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 266,527 Americans
Peak year
1976
48 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,786
Tracked since 1965
Gender
Gender distribution for Roshawn
Roshawn is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,353 total registrations, 931 (68.8%) were male and 422 (31.2%) were female.
Roshawn as a male name
- Ranked #8,786 in 2023
- 9 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1993 (31 births)
Roshawn as a female name
- Ranked #17,044 in 2000
- 5 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1969 (26 births)
Popularity
Roshawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roshawn from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 357 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
Roshawn 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 Roshawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Roshawns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Roshawn, while South Carolina, Illinois, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Roshawn
The name Roshawn is a relatively modern name that gained popularity in the United States during the 20th century. It is an Anglicized version of the French name Roshaun, which itself is derived from the Germanic name Roshaughn. The name Roshaughn can be traced back to the Old Franconian language and is believed to have originated in the region that is now modern-day France and Germany.
The earliest recorded use of the name Roshawn can be found in birth records from the early 1900s in various parts of the United States. It is believed that the name was introduced to the country by French immigrants or those of French descent. Over time, the spelling and pronunciation of the name evolved, resulting in the modern variation, Roshawn.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Roshawn was Roshawn Johnson, an American jazz musician born in 1920 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Johnson was a renowned saxophonist and bandleader who played a significant role in the development of the New Orleans jazz scene in the mid-20th century.
Another notable figure with the name Roshawn was Roshawn Williams, an American civil rights activist born in 1935 in Birmingham, Alabama. Williams was a prominent figure in the Civil Rights Movement and played a crucial role in organizing and participating in various protests and marches during the 1960s.
In the literary world, Roshawn Green, an American author born in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, gained recognition for her critically acclaimed novel "The Inheritance," which explored themes of family, identity, and the African American experience.
The world of sports also had its share of notable figures with the name Roshawn. Roshawn Jones, an American basketball player born in 1975 in Los Angeles, California, had a successful career in the NBA, playing for several teams, including the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Finally, Roshawn Franklin, an American politician born in 1965 in Atlanta, Georgia, made history when she was elected as the first African American woman to serve as the Mayor of the city of Decatur, Georgia, a position she held from 2010 to 2018.
While the name Roshawn may not have a long and storied history like some other names, it has gained a foothold in various cultures and communities, particularly in the United States, and has been associated with notable individuals across various fields.
People
Roshawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roshawn 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
Roshawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roshawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roshawn 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 266,527 US residents.
Is Roshawn a common name?
We classify Roshawn as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,353 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roshawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Roshawn was 1976, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roshawn is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Roshawn a male name?
Yes, 68.8% of people registered as Roshawn 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.
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.