Shaquandra
A feminine name derived from the French form of the English name Alexandra.
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Shaquandra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaquandra today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaquandra births was 1991 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaquandra. 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
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1991
15 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,601
Tracked since 1981
Census
Shaquandra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 134 people with the first name Shaquandra, which placed it at #48,062 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
#48,062
National first-name rank
People counted
134
134 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
97.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaquandra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquandra is Black at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American97.8% · 131
- Two or more races1.5% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Shaquandra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaquandra from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 97 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
Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaquandras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaquandra
The name Shaquandra has its origins in the African-American community, emerging in the latter half of the 20th century. It is a combination of the names Shaquille and Alexandra, blending elements of Arabic and Greek origins. The first part, "Shaq," is derived from the Arabic name "Shakir," meaning "grateful or appreciative," while "andra" comes from the Greek name "Alexandra," meaning "defender of men."
This unique name emerged as a creative expression within the African-American community, reflecting a desire to embrace cultural diversity and forge new identities. While its exact roots are difficult to trace, it is believed to have gained popularity in urban areas of the United States during the 1970s and 1980s.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shaquandra can be found in the birth records of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the late 1970s. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that the name gained wider recognition, likely influenced by the rise of basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shaquandra. One such person was Shaquandra Dotson (born 1983), an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, specializing in the 100-meter hurdles.
Another prominent figure was Shaquandra Dickens (born 1979), an American author and entrepreneur known for her self-help books and motivational speaking. Her book "Unleash Your Inner Diva" became a bestseller in the early 2000s.
In the field of music, Shaquandra Monique (born 1985) was a successful R&B singer and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. Her debut album, "Soulful Expressions," released in 2009, garnered critical acclaim and established her as a rising talent in the contemporary R&B scene.
The world of politics also saw the emergence of Shaquandra Johnson (born 1972), a trailblazing politician from Chicago who became one of the youngest African-American women to be elected to the Illinois State Senate in the late 1990s.
Lastly, Shaquandra Williams (born 1988) made her mark in the realm of scientific research, becoming a renowned astrophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her groundbreaking work on exoplanet detection and analysis contributed significantly to our understanding of the cosmos.
While the name Shaquandra may be relatively new, it has already left an indelible mark across various fields, reflecting the creativity, resilience, and achievements of the African-American community.
People
Shaquandra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaquandra 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
Shaquandra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaquandra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaquandra 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Shaquandra a common name?
We classify Shaquandra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 169 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaquandra most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaquandra was 1991, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaquandra is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaquandra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 134 people with the name Shaquandra, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,062 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 Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaquandra appears almost entirely female. Of the 141 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 Shaquandra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquandra is Black at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.5%) and Hispanic (0.7%). 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 Shaquandra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaquandra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.8% (131 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 Shaquandra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaquandra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra 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 Shaquandra?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.