Shanty
Of Indian origin, a diminutive form of Shanta meaning "peace" or "calm".
Name Census estimates that about 191 living Americans carry the first name Shanty. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shanty today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shanty births was 2015 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shanty. 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
191
~ 1 in 1,794,525 Americans
Peak year
2015
28 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,597
Tracked since 1978
Census
Shanty in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 337 people with the first name Shanty, which placed it at #27,242 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
#27,242
National first-name rank
People counted
337
337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shanty
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanty is Hispanic at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%) and Black (20.8%). 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 Shanty 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 Shanty at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.3% · 156
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.0% · 81
- Black or African American20.8% · 70
- White7.1% · 24
- Two or more races1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Shanty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shanty from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 110 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shanty 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 Shanty during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shantys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shanty
The given name Shanty is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit word "shanti," which means peace, tranquility, or calmness. This name has its roots in ancient Indian culture and can be traced back to the Vedic period, around 1500-500 BCE.
Shanty was a popular name among Hindus and Buddhists, as it symbolized the pursuit of inner peace and serenity. The name is mentioned in several ancient Hindu texts, such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, where it is often associated with spiritual enlightenment and the attainment of a higher state of consciousness.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Shanty can be found in the 6th century BCE, when it was borne by a renowned Buddhist monk and scholar named Shanty Deva. He is credited with writing several important treatises on Buddhist philosophy and is revered as one of the most influential figures in the early development of Buddhism.
In the medieval period, the name Shanty gained popularity across various regions of India and was adopted by several prominent individuals. One notable figure was Shanty Sundara, a 12th-century Hindu philosopher and poet from the Vijayanagara Empire, known for his works on ethics and metaphysics.
During the 16th century, the name Shanty was popularized by Shanty Devi, a Rajput princess and warrior who fought bravely against the Mughal Empire. Her courageous exploits and unwavering devotion to her people earned her a place in the annals of Indian history.
Another famous bearer of the name was Shanty Bhushan Ghosh, a 19th-century Bengali poet, and social reformer. He was a prominent figure in the Bengal Renaissance and played a significant role in shaping the cultural and literary landscape of Bengal during that period.
In more recent times, the name Shanty has been associated with several notable individuals, including Shanty Ghosh, an Indian classical dancer and choreographer who has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Indian dance forms.
While the name Shanty has its origins in ancient Indian culture, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions due to its beautiful meaning and association with peace and tranquility.
People
Shanty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shanty 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
Shanty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shanty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 191 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shanty 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 1,794,525 US residents.
Is Shanty a common name?
We classify Shanty as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 193 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shanty most popular?
The single biggest year for Shanty was 2015, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shanty is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shanty in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 337 people with the name Shanty, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,242 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 Shanty 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 Shanty?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shanty leans strongly female. 313 people counted with this name were female (92.3%), compared with 26 male bearers (7.7%). 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 Shanty?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shanty is Hispanic at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%) and Black (20.8%). 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 Shanty most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Shanty in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (156 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 Shanty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shanty a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shanty 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 Shanty still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shanty 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 Shanty 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 have the name Shanty?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Shanty, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.