Shanece
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps a blend of Shannon and Denise.
Name Census estimates that about 344 living Americans carry the first name Shanece. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanece today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanece births was 1992 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanece. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Shanece with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
344
~ 1 in 996,379 Americans
Peak year
1992
56 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2017 SSA rank
#18,062
Tracked since 1983
Census
Shanece in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 313 people with the first name Shanece, which placed it at #28,614 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
#28,614
National first-name rank
People counted
313
313 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanece
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanece is Black at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.0%) and White (5.8%). 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 Shanece 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 Shanece at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.5% · 255
- Two or more races8.0% · 25
- White5.8% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
Popularity
Shanece: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanece from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 221 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
Shanece 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 Shanece during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaneces live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanece
The name Shanece has its origins in the African American community, emerging in the early 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Shanice and Renee, both of which have French roots. The name Shanice is derived from the French name Chanique, which itself is a variant of the name Jeannette, meaning "God is gracious." Renee is a French name that means "reborn."
While the exact origin of the name Shanece is unclear, it is thought to have been formed by blending these two names, possibly reflecting the desire of African American parents to create a unique name that celebrated their cultural heritage while also incorporating elements of French names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shanece can be found in the 1920s, though it remained relatively rare until gaining popularity in the latter half of the 20th century. The name's rise in popularity coincided with the increasing embrace of African American culture and the desire to celebrate one's heritage through unique and meaningful names.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Shanece include:
1. Shanece Arnold (born 1984), an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Charlotte Sting and the San Antonio Stars.
2. Shanece Skyers (born 1985), an American track and field athlete who competed in the long jump and triple jump events.
3. Shanece Kendall (born 1982), an American singer-songwriter and actress who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.
4. Shanece Milton (born 1988), an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the non-profit organization "Empowering Minds."
5. Shanece Haile (born 1975), an Ethiopian-American writer and activist known for her work on human rights and social justice issues.
While the name Shanece has gained popularity in recent decades, it remains a unique and meaningful choice, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the African American community and the desire to create a distinctive identity through naming practices.
People
Shanece + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanece 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
Shanece: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanece?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 344 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanece 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 996,379 US residents.
Is Shanece a common name?
We classify Shanece as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 357 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanece most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanece was 1992, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanece is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanece in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 313 people with the name Shanece, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,614 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 Shanece 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 Shanece?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanece appears almost entirely female. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Shanece?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanece is Black at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.0%) and White (5.8%). 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 Shanece most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shanece in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (255 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 Shanece in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanece a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanece 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 Shanece still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanece 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 Shanece 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 Shanece?
You can see how many people share the name Shanece on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.