Shante
A feminine name of African origins meaning "she is worthy" or "she walks with pride."
Name Census estimates that about 5,696 living Americans carry the first name Shante. It is a predominantly female name (96.4% of registrations). The average person named Shante today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shante births was 1990 (375 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shante. 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 Shante with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Shante is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 216 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.7K
~ 1 in 60,175 Americans
Peak year
1990
375 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2001 SSA rank
#10,351
Tracked since 1964
Census
Shante in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,998 people with the first name Shante, which placed it at #3,913 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
#3,913
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,998 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shante
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shante is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Shante 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 Shante at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.3% · 4,113
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 299
- Two or more races5.8% · 288
- White4.7% · 234
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Shante
Shante leans heavily female at 96.4% of total registrations, but 216 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shante as a male name
- Ranked #10,351 in 2001
- 6 male births in 2001
- Peak: 1977 (24 births)
Shante as a female name
- Ranked #11,033 in 2023
- 9 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1990 (368 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shante leans strongly female. 4,839 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 164 male bearers (3.3%).
Popularity
Shante: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shante from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 2,657 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shante 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 Shante during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shantes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Shante, while Wisconsin, New Mexico, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 136 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shante
The name Shante is believed to have its origins in the French language. It is a variant of the name Chantal, which is derived from the Latin name Cantiana. Cantiana itself is thought to be derived from the name of the French town of Chantenay, located in the Loire region of France.
While the exact origin of the name Shante is not entirely clear, it is believed to have emerged as a popular name in the African American community in the United States during the 20th century. It is possible that the name Shante was influenced by the French name Chantal, but it developed its own unique cultural significance within the African American community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shante can be found in the character of Shante Smith, portrayed by actress Jada Pinkett Smith in the 1994 film "A Low Down Dirty Shame." This exposure may have contributed to the name's growing popularity in the late 20th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Shante. One of the most famous is Shante Moore, an American singer and songwriter born in 1976. She is best known for her hit single "Comin' Off" from her debut album "Shante's Gal" released in 1994.
Another notable Shante is Shante Broadus, the daughter of renowned rapper Snoop Dogg. Born in 1997, she has pursued a career in music and modeling, following in her father's footsteps in the entertainment industry.
In the world of sports, Shante Little is a former professional basketball player from the United States. Born in 1981, she played in the WNBA for teams such as the Detroit Shock and the Atlanta Dream during her career.
Shante Carver is an American fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded the clothing line "Ask Shante" in 2010. Her designs have been worn by numerous celebrities, and she has been recognized for her contributions to the fashion industry.
Lastly, Shante Wolfe is an American writer and activist known for her work in the LGBTQ+ community. Born in 1972, she has authored several books and articles exploring themes of identity, sexuality, and social justice.
People
Shante + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shante 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
Shante: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shante?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shante 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 60,175 US residents.
Is Shante a common name?
We classify Shante as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,030 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shante most popular?
The single biggest year for Shante was 1990, when 375 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shante is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shante in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,998 people with the name Shante, or 1.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,913 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 Shante 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 Shante?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shante leans strongly female. 4,839 people counted with this name were female (96.7%), compared with 164 male bearers (3.3%). 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 Shante?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shante is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Shante most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shante in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (4,113 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 Shante in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shante a female name?
Yes, 96.4% of people registered as Shante 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 Shante still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shante 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 Shante 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 Shante?
Find out how many Americans are named Shante on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.