Shandell
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly derived from Shannon.
Name Census estimates that about 555 living Americans carry the first name Shandell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Shandell today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shandell births was 1991 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shandell. 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
555
~ 1 in 617,575 Americans
Peak year
1991
57 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1993 SSA rank
#8,537
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shandell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 531 people with the first name Shandell, which placed it at #19,755 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
#19,755
National first-name rank
People counted
531
531 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shandell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shandell is Black at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Shandell 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 Shandell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.8% · 254
- White33.9% · 180
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 51
- Two or more races4.5% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Shandell
Shandell leans heavily female at 88.6% of total registrations, but 68 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shandell as a male name
- Ranked #8,537 in 1993
- 6 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1978 (10 births)
Shandell as a female name
- Ranked #12,224 in 2003
- 8 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1991 (52 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shandell leans strongly female. 456 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 81 male bearers (15.1%).
Popularity
Shandell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shandell 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 211 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
Shandell 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 Shandell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shandells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, California, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Shandell, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shandell
The name Shandell is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic cultures of the British Isles. It is derived from the Old Irish word "sean" which means "old" or "ancient" and the Welsh word "dell" meaning "valley" or "ravine". Together, the name Shandell could be interpreted as "ancient valley" or "old ravine".
In the early days of Christianity, the name Shandell was sometimes used as a baptismal name for children born in remote valleys or secluded areas, as a symbolic reference to their birth in a place untouched by the outside world. The name was particularly popular in parts of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shandell dates back to the 6th century AD, when a Welsh chieftain named Shandell ap Rhys is mentioned in the annals of the Kingdom of Gwynedd. He was known for his fierce resistance against the invading Anglo-Saxons and his defense of the ancient Celtic territories.
In the 9th century, a Scottish monk named Shandell of Iona was renowned for his calligraphy and illuminated manuscripts produced at the monastery on the Isle of Iona. His work is considered a prime example of the intricate Celtic art and design of the time.
During the 12th century, an Irish noblewoman named Shandell Ní Dhomhnaill was celebrated for her patronage of the arts and her support of Gaelic poets and bards. She was instrumental in preserving the ancient oral traditions and literature of Ireland.
In the 16th century, a Welsh soldier named Shandell Fychan played a pivotal role in the Battle of Bosworth Field, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses and the beginning of the Tudor dynasty in England. He was knighted for his bravery and loyalty to Henry VII.
Another notable bearer of the name was Shandell MacLeod, a Scottish chieftain from the Isle of Skye, who lived in the 17th century. He was known for his leadership and his efforts to maintain the traditional Highland way of life amidst the increasing influence of the British Crown.
People
Shandell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shandell 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
Shandell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shandell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 555 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shandell 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 617,575 US residents.
Is Shandell a common name?
We classify Shandell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 594 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shandell most popular?
The single biggest year for Shandell was 1991, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shandell is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shandell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 531 people with the name Shandell, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,755 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 Shandell 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 Shandell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shandell leans strongly female. 456 people counted with this name were female (84.9%), compared with 81 male bearers (15.1%). 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 Shandell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shandell is Black at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Shandell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shandell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.8% (254 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 Shandell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shandell a female name?
Yes, 88.6% of people registered as Shandell 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 Shandell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shandell 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 Shandell 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 Shandell?
You can see how many people have the name Shandell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.