Shaquanda
A feminine name possibly derived from a blend of Shaki and Amanda.
Name Census estimates that about 658 living Americans carry the first name Shaquanda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaquanda today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaquanda births was 1990 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaquanda. 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
658
~ 1 in 520,903 Americans
Peak year
1990
60 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2000 SSA rank
#12,920
Tracked since 1976
Census
Shaquanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 533 people with the first name Shaquanda, which placed it at #19,699 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
#19,699
National first-name rank
People counted
533
533 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaquanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquanda is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Shaquanda 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 Shaquanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.4% · 503
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 12
- Two or more races1.9% · 10
- White0.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Shaquanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaquanda from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 337 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaquanda 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 Shaquanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaquandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Florida, New York, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Shaquanda, while South Carolina, Michigan, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaquanda
The name Shaquanda is a modern invented name that has no definitive origin or historical roots. It appears to be a combination of the popular names Shaquille and Amanda, potentially created in the late 20th century in the United States.
There are no known records of this name being used or mentioned in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical documents from various cultures and civilizations around the world. It is a relatively new name that gained popularity in certain regions, primarily in the African American community.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Shaquanda are difficult to pinpoint, as it is a recently coined name. However, it is worth noting that the name Shaquille, which forms part of Shaquanda, gained widespread recognition due to the fame of the basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, who was born in 1972.
Regarding famous individuals with the name Shaquanda, there are a few notable mentions, although the name is still relatively uncommon. Shaquanda Cotton, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, is one of the more prominent individuals with this name. Shaquanda Lott, a former basketball player for the University of Florida, is another example.
Other individuals with the name Shaquanda include Shaquanda Cosby, a former basketball player at the University of Illinois, and Shaquanda Dickey, a former basketball player at Bethune-Cookman University. Additionally, Shaquanda Gainey, a former basketball player at Indiana University, also bears this name.
It is important to note that while the name Shaquanda may have gained some recognition, particularly in certain communities, it is a relatively modern and invented name without a deep historical or cultural background. Its origins and popularity are primarily limited to recent decades.
People
Shaquanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaquanda 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
Shaquanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaquanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 658 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaquanda 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 520,903 US residents.
Is Shaquanda a common name?
We classify Shaquanda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 691 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaquanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaquanda was 1990, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaquanda is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaquanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 533 people with the name Shaquanda, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,699 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 Shaquanda 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 Shaquanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaquanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 537 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Shaquanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquanda is Black at 94.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.3%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Shaquanda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaquanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (503 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 Shaquanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaquanda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaquanda 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 Shaquanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaquanda 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 Shaquanda 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 common is the name Shaquanda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.