Shantale
A feminine name of unknown meaning and origin, potentially French.
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Shantale. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shantale today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shantale births was 1988 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shantale. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1988
13 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1994 SSA rank
#13,133
Tracked since 1970
Census
Shantale in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Shantale, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shantale
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shantale is Black at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Shantale 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 Shantale at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.7% · 101
- White12.9% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 12
- Two or more races5.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Shantale: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shantale from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 55 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shantale remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shantale 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 Shantale 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 Shantale
The name Shantale is a relatively modern invented name that does not have a long historical lineage or definitive origin. It appears to be a combination of elements from different languages and cultures, which have been blended together to create a unique name.
One potential influence could be the French name Chantal, which is derived from the Latin name Cantiana. Cantiana was a regional name referring to the area of Kent in England during the Roman era. The name Chantal gained popularity in France during the Middle Ages and was later adopted into English as a variant spelling.
Another possible influence is the Sanskrit word "shanti," which means "peace" or "tranquility" in various Indian languages, including Hindi and Bengali. The name Shanti is a common name in South Asia and has been used for both males and females.
The addition of the "le" suffix at the end of the name Shantale is not explicitly tied to any specific cultural or linguistic tradition. It could be a stylistic choice or an attempt to create a name with a more unique and melodic sound.
While the name Shantale does not have a long historical record, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this name in recent times:
1. Shantale Arielle, an American actress and model born in 1991, known for her roles in films such as "Precious" and "Sparkle."
2. Shantale Arrington, an American makeup artist and influencer who has worked with various celebrities and brands.
3. Shantale Sprauve, a professional basketball player from the U.S. Virgin Islands who played for several teams in Europe.
4. Shantale Brown, a Canadian track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events.
5. Shantale LaTrice Williams, an American singer and songwriter known for her participation in the reality TV show "The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll."
While these individuals have achieved varying levels of fame and recognition, their shared name serves as a testament to the creativity and diversity of modern name-giving practices, blending elements from different cultures and languages to create unique and distinctive monikers.
People
Shantale + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shantale 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
Shantale: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shantale?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shantale 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Shantale a common name?
We classify Shantale as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 125 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shantale most popular?
The single biggest year for Shantale was 1988, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shantale 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 Shantale in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Shantale, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Shantale 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 Shantale?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shantale appears almost entirely female. Of the 138 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 Shantale?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shantale is Black at 72.7%. The next largest groups are White (12.9%) and Hispanic (8.6%). 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 Shantale most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shantale in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (101 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 Shantale in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shantale a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shantale 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 Shantale still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shantale 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 Shantale 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 named Shantale?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.