Shalonda
A feminine name derived from a combination of Greek roots meaning "woman of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 4,292 living Americans carry the first name Shalonda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shalonda today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shalonda births was 1980 (261 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shalonda. 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 79,859 Americans
Peak year
1980
261 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2009 SSA rank
#16,950
Tracked since 1963
Census
Shalonda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,728 people with the first name Shalonda, which placed it at #4,833 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
#4,833
National first-name rank
People counted
3.7K
3,728 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shalonda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalonda is Black at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and White (2.0%). 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 Shalonda 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 Shalonda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.2% · 3,476
- Two or more races3.1% · 114
- White2.0% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 5
Popularity
Shalonda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shalonda from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,933 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
Shalonda 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 Shalonda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shalondas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Shalonda, while District of Columbia, Wisconsin, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 136 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shalonda
The given name Shalonda is a modern name that appears to have originated in the United States in the 20th century. It is likely a combination of the popular names Sharon and Linda, which were both widely used during that time period. While the exact origin and meaning behind the name are unclear, it is believed to have been created as a unique and creative blend of these two pre-existing names.
There are no known historical references or appearances of the name Shalonda in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records from earlier time periods. This suggests that it is a relatively recent invention, potentially emerging in the late 20th century as a distinctive and fashionable name choice for parents seeking something new and different.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Shalonda are somewhat limited, as it did not gain widespread popularity until more recent decades. However, a few notable individuals throughout history have borne this name, including:
1. Shalonda Leppert, an American basketball player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics as part of the United States women's national basketball team.
2. Shalonda Young, an American sprinter and hurdler who participated in multiple Olympic Games, including the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics.
3. Shalonda Solomon, an American soccer player who played as a forward for the United States women's national soccer team in the early 2000s.
4. Shalonda Hampton, an American author and motivational speaker known for her books on personal growth and self-empowerment.
5. Shalonda Smith, an American entrepreneur and business executive who co-founded a successful technology startup in the late 1990s.
While the name Shalonda may not have a long and storied history compared to some more traditional names, its unique blend of sounds and modern origins have made it a distinctive choice for parents in recent decades.
People
Shalonda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shalonda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shalonda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shalonda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shalonda 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 79,859 US residents.
Is Shalonda a common name?
We classify Shalonda 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, 4,632 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shalonda most popular?
The single biggest year for Shalonda was 1980, when 261 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shalonda is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shalonda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,728 people with the name Shalonda, or 1.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,833 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 Shalonda 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 Shalonda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shalonda appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,727 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 Shalonda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalonda is Black at 93.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.1%) and White (2.0%). 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 Shalonda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shalonda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.2% (3,476 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 Shalonda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shalonda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shalonda 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 Shalonda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shalonda 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 Shalonda 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 Shalonda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.