Shanta
A feminine name of Hindu origin meaning "peace, tranquility, or calm".
Name Census estimates that about 4,866 living Americans carry the first name Shanta. It is a predominantly female name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Shanta today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanta births was 1978 (378 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanta. 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 Shanta with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Shanta is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 142 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 70,439 Americans
Peak year
1978
378 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,755
Tracked since 1958
Census
Shanta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,799 people with the first name Shanta, which placed it at #4,043 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
#4,043
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,799 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanta is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.1%) 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 Shanta 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 Shanta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.0% · 3,406
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.1% · 821
- White5.8% · 278
- Two or more races3.2% · 152
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 107
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 35
Gender
Gender distribution for Shanta
Shanta leans heavily female at 97.3% of total registrations, but 142 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shanta as a male name
- Ranked #7,755 in 1989
- 6 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1978 (18 births)
Shanta as a female name
- Ranked #18,819 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1978 (360 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanta leans strongly female. 4,663 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 136 male bearers (2.8%).
Popularity
Shanta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanta from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,077 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
Shanta 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 Shanta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shantas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Shanta, while Washington, Kentucky, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 152 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanta
The name Shanta has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indian language dating back to the second millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit root "shanti," which means peace, tranquility, or calmness. The name is believed to have been in use in ancient India during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Shanta can be found in the Hindu sacred texts known as the Vedas, particularly in the Upanishads, which are philosophical texts that explore the nature of reality and the self. In these texts, the concept of "shanti" is central, representing the ultimate state of inner peace and harmony.
In the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, there is a character named Shanta, who is described as a wise and peaceful sage. This epic, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE, is a testament to the antiquity of the name and its association with wisdom and tranquility.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shanta. One of the earliest recorded was Shanta Devi, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 16th century CE. She was celebrated for her mastery of Sanskrit literature and her contributions to the preservation of ancient Indian texts.
Another prominent figure was Shanta Gandhi, the late wife of Mahatma Gandhi, the iconic leader of India's independence movement. Shanta Gandhi, born in 1869, was a dedicated social worker and activist who played a crucial role in supporting her husband's non-violent struggle against British colonial rule.
In the realm of literature, Shanta Shelke is a distinguished Marathi poet and writer from India, born in 1923. Her works explore themes of social justice, feminism, and the human condition, earning her numerous accolades, including the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award.
Shanta Apte, born in 1923, was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer who helped popularize and promote the Kathak dance form on a global stage. Her contributions to the preservation and promotion of Indian classical dance were widely recognized, and she received numerous honors, including the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian awards.
Shanta Devarajan, born in 1957, is an influential economist and development expert who has worked for the World Bank for several decades. She has made significant contributions to the field of development economics and has played a pivotal role in shaping policies aimed at promoting sustainable economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries.
People
Shanta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanta 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
Shanta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,866 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanta 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 70,439 US residents.
Is Shanta a common name?
We classify Shanta as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,254 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanta most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanta was 1978, when 378 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanta 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 Shanta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,799 people with the name Shanta, or 1.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,043 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 Shanta 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 Shanta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanta leans strongly female. 4,663 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 136 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Shanta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanta is Black at 71.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (17.1%) 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 Shanta most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shanta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.0% (3,406 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 Shanta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanta a female name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Shanta 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 Shanta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanta 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 Shanta 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 Shanta?
Want to know how many people share the name Shanta? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.