Shaquina
A feminine name derived from the Arabic "Shaqiq" meaning beautiful or splendid.
Name Census estimates that about 117 living Americans carry the first name Shaquina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaquina today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaquina births was 1992 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaquina. 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
117
~ 1 in 2,929,524 Americans
Peak year
1992
20 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
1995 SSA rank
#15,369
Tracked since 1978
Census
Shaquina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 132 people with the first name Shaquina, which placed it at #48,390 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
#48,390
National first-name rank
People counted
132
132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaquina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquina is Black at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and White (2.3%). 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 Shaquina 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 Shaquina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.7% · 121
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 5
- White2.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Popularity
Shaquina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaquina from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 59 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
Shaquina 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 Shaquina 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 Shaquina
The name Shaquina is believed to have its origins in a combination of two African languages spoken in parts of West and Central Africa – the Wolof language and the Fula language. In the Wolof language, the prefix "Sha" is a common honorific title, while in the Fula language, the word "quina" means "to be born" or "to come into existence."
While the exact origin of the name is not entirely clear, it is thought that Shaquina emerged as a name in the regions where these two languages were spoken, possibly as early as the 16th or 17th century. Some linguists suggest that the name may have been formed by combining the Wolof honorific with the Fula word for birth, creating a name that carried a sense of respect and new beginnings.
Historical records of individuals bearing the name Shaquina are scarce, but a few notable examples can be found. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Shaquina Diallo, a female warrior and leader from the Fula people of present-day Guinea in the late 17th century. She is said to have led her people in defending their lands against invading forces.
In the 19th century, there is mention of Shaquina Koroma, a respected elder and storyteller from the Temne people of Sierra Leone. Her tales and oral traditions were passed down through generations, preserving the cultural heritage of her people.
Another notable individual was Shaquina Bah, a skilled midwife and herbalist from the Mandinka people of Gambia in the early 20th century. She was renowned for her knowledge of traditional medicine and her compassionate care for mothers and newborns.
More recently, in the late 20th century, Shaquina Ouédraogo was a prominent activist and advocate for women's rights in Burkina Faso. She worked tirelessly to promote education and economic opportunities for women in her country.
Shaquina Kébé, born in Senegal in the 1960s, is a celebrated writer and poet whose works explore themes of identity, diaspora, and the experiences of African women. Her poetry has been widely acclaimed and translated into several languages.
While the name Shaquina is still relatively uncommon, it carries a rich cultural heritage and a connection to the diverse languages and traditions of West and Central Africa. Its meaning, rooted in concepts of respect, birth, and new beginnings, has resonated across generations and communities.
People
Shaquina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaquina 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
Shaquina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaquina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 117 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaquina 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 2,929,524 US residents.
Is Shaquina a common name?
We classify Shaquina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaquina most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaquina was 1992, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaquina is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shaquina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 132 people with the name Shaquina, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,390 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 Shaquina 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 Shaquina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaquina leans strongly female. 133 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Shaquina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaquina is Black at 91.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.8%) and White (2.3%). 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 Shaquina most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaquina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (121 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 Shaquina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaquina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaquina 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 Shaquina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaquina 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 Shaquina 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 Shaquina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.