Shamona
An uncommon name of uncertain origin, possibly from Shamu, meaning "to accompany".
Name Census estimates that about 204 living Americans carry the first name Shamona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shamona today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shamona births was 1978 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shamona. 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
204
~ 1 in 1,680,168 Americans
Peak year
1978
17 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,453
Tracked since 1971
Census
Shamona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Shamona, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shamona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamona is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.0%). 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 Shamona 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 Shamona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.0% · 182
- Two or more races3.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 5
Popularity
Shamona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shamona 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 102 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Shamona remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shamona 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 Shamona 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 Shamona
The name Shamona is believed to have its origins in ancient India, dating back to the 6th century BCE. It is likely derived from the Sanskrit word "shamana," which means "peaceful" or "calm." The name was popular among the followers of Buddhism, who sought inner peace and tranquility through spiritual practices.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Shamona can be found in the Buddhist scriptures known as the Pali Canon. These texts mention a Buddhist monk named Shamona who was known for his wisdom and his ability to impart profound teachings to his students.
In the 3rd century BCE, there was a renowned Indian philosopher and scholar named Shamona Bharata. He was widely respected for his contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and ethics. His works were widely studied and debated by scholars across ancient India.
During the Gupta Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent from the 4th to the 6th century CE, there was a celebrated poet named Shamona Kalidasa. He is considered one of the greatest poets and playwrights in Sanskrit literature and is best known for his works such as "Abhijnanashakuntalam" and "Meghaduta."
In the 12th century, there was a famous Sufi mystic and poet from present-day Afghanistan named Shamona Balkhi. He wrote extensively on the themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition. His poetry had a significant influence on the development of Persian literature and Sufism in the region.
Another notable figure who bore the name Shamona was a 16th-century Indian philosopher and scholar named Shamona Mishra. He was a prominent figure in the Navya-Nyaya school of Indian logic and made significant contributions to the field of epistemology and metaphysics.
People
Shamona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shamona 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
Shamona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shamona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 204 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shamona 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 1,680,168 US residents.
Is Shamona a common name?
We classify Shamona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shamona most popular?
The single biggest year for Shamona was 1978, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shamona is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shamona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Shamona, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Shamona 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 Shamona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shamona leans strongly female. 197 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Shamona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shamona is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.0%). 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 Shamona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shamona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (182 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 Shamona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shamona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shamona 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 Shamona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shamona 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 Shamona 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 Shamona?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Shamona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.