Shantele
A feminine English name derived from Chantal, meaning "stone" or "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Shantele. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shantele today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shantele births was 1989 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shantele. 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
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
1989
19 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1999 SSA rank
#16,483
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shantele in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 215 people with the first name Shantele, which placed it at #36,733 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
#36,733
National first-name rank
People counted
215
215 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shantele
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shantele is Black at 58.6%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Shantele 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 Shantele at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.6% · 126
- White30.2% · 65
- Two or more races6.0% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Shantele: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shantele from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shantele remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shantele 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 Shantele 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 Shantele
The name Shantele has its origins in the French language, derived from the Old French name "Chantelle." This name can be traced back to the medieval period, around the 12th century. It is believed to have been derived from the French word "chanter," meaning "to sing," and was likely originally a nickname or descriptive name given to someone with a melodious voice or a talent for singing.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled variations such as "Chantele," "Chantelle," and "Chantele." The spelling "Shantele" emerged later as the name spread to other regions and languages, reflecting the influence of different linguistic traditions on its pronunciation and orthography.
The name Shantele does not appear to have any significant historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, as it is a relatively modern name in its current form. However, its roots in the French language and the concept of singing or music may have resonated with various cultural traditions that valued artistic expression.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shantele was Shantele Woodridge, an American actress born in 1970. She is known for her roles in television shows such as "The Parkers" and "The Steve Harvey Show."
Another notable figure with this name was Shantele Hubertz, a Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. She specialized in the heptathlon and won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics.
In the literary world, Shantele Dafoe is a Canadian author and poet who has published several collections of poetry, including "Condo, Hustle" and "Revenance." She was born in 1981 and continues to contribute to the Canadian literary scene.
Shantele Mitchell is an American professional basketball player who has played in the WNBA for teams like the Chicago Sky and the Connecticut Sun. She was born in 1988 and is known for her defensive skills on the court.
Shantele Barham, born in 1972, is an American singer and songwriter who has released several albums in the Christian contemporary music genre. She has also collaborated with other artists and performed at various religious events and concerts.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Shantele, showcasing its diverse cultural influences and various fields of achievement.
People
Shantele + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shantele 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
Shantele: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shantele?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shantele 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 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Shantele a common name?
We classify Shantele as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 238 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shantele most popular?
The single biggest year for Shantele was 1989, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shantele is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shantele in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 215 people with the name Shantele, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,733 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 Shantele 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 Shantele?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shantele appears almost entirely female. Of the 215 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 Shantele?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shantele is Black at 58.6%. The next largest groups are White (30.2%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Shantele most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shantele in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (126 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 Shantele in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shantele a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shantele 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 Shantele still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shantele 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 Shantele 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 called Shantele?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.