Shaon
A masculine name of Bengali origin meaning "moonlight" or "beautiful moon".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Shaon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Shaon today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaon births was 1980 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaon. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Shaon. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1980
7 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1986 SSA rank
#7,656
Tracked since 1980
Census
Shaon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 205 people with the first name Shaon, which placed it at #37,817 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
#37,817
National first-name rank
People counted
205
205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaon is White at 45.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.0%). 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 Shaon 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 Shaon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.4% · 93
- Black or African American27.3% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.0% · 39
- Two or more races4.9% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Shaon: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaon 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 Shaon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 12 | 0 | 12 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaon
The name Shaon is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "sha'n," which means "grandeur" or "majesty." It is a masculine name that has been used for centuries in the Middle East and parts of South Asia.
Shaon can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam and the spread of Arabic culture. It was a popular name among Arab scholars, poets, and influential figures of the time. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is found in the works of the renowned Arabian poet Al-Mutanabbi, who lived from 915 to 965 CE.
In Islamic tradition, the name Shaon is associated with the concept of reverence and awe towards God. It is believed to bestow qualities of nobility, dignity, and respect upon those who bear it. Some Islamic scholars have suggested that the name may also have roots in the Quranic phrase "sha'n azim," which means "a great matter" or "a tremendous event."
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Shaon. One of the earliest was Shaon Al-Razi, a Persian polymath who lived from 854 to 925 CE and made significant contributions to the fields of medicine, philosophy, and physics. Another prominent bearer of the name was Shaon Al-Andalusi, a renowned Muslim philosopher and mathematician who lived in Andalusia (modern-day Spain) during the 11th century.
In the realm of literature, Shaon Al-Maghribi was a celebrated Moroccan poet and scholar who lived from 1007 to 1085 CE. His works were widely read and appreciated throughout the Arab world. Additionally, Shaon Al-Hamdani was a prominent Yemeni scholar and historian who lived from 893 to 945 CE and authored several books on the history and geography of the Arabian Peninsula.
Moving into more modern times, Shaon Karim was a renowned Bengali writer and poet who lived from 1916 to 1982. He is considered one of the most influential figures in modern Bengali literature and was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Award, one of the highest literary honors in Bangladesh.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Shaon. While its origins can be traced back to the Arabic language and Islamic culture, the name has transcended borders and gained recognition across various regions and societies.
People
Shaon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaon 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
Shaon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaon 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Shaon a common name?
We classify Shaon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaon most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaon was 1980, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaon is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 205 people with the name Shaon, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,817 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 Shaon 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 Shaon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shaon on both sides of the split. Of the 202 people counted with this name, 89 were male (44.1%) and 113 were female (55.9%). 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 Shaon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaon is White at 45.4%. The next largest groups are Black (27.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.0%). 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 Shaon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shaon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.4% (93 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 Shaon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaon in the SSA data are male. 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 Shaon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaon 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 Shaon 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 Shaon?
Want to know how many people share the name Shaon? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.