Shatonya
A feminine name derived from "Shatonja" meaning "she comes from the town of Onja".
Name Census estimates that about 205 living Americans carry the first name Shatonya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shatonya today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shatonya births was 1980 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shatonya. 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
205
~ 1 in 1,671,972 Americans
Peak year
1980
19 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1994 SSA rank
#10,383
Tracked since 1970
Census
Shatonya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 204 people with the first name Shatonya, which placed it at #37,948 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
#37,948
National first-name rank
People counted
204
204 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shatonya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shatonya is Black at 96.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Shatonya 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 Shatonya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.1% · 196
- White2.5% · 5
- Two or more races1.0% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 1
Popularity
Shatonya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shatonya 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 103 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shatonya remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shatonya 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 Shatonya 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 Shatonya
The given name Shatonya has its origins in the African American community, where it emerged as a unique and creative name in the latter half of the 20th century. The name is thought to be a combination of elements from various African languages, blending sounds and syllables to create a distinctive and melodic moniker.
While the precise etymology of Shatonya is uncertain, it is believed to be a portmanteau of sorts, drawing inspiration from names such as Shantae, Tanya, and possibly even Tonya. The inclusion of the "sha" prefix may have its roots in the Swahili language, where it can signify a sense of royalty or nobility.
Historically, the name Shatonya does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. Its emergence can be traced to the vibrant African American culture and the movement towards embracing and celebrating one's heritage through unique and meaningful names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shatonya can be found in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. As the Black Power movement gained momentum, African Americans sought to reclaim their identities and express their cultural pride through various means, including the creation of new and distinctive names.
Throughout its relatively short history, the name Shatonya has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Shatonya Johnson (born 1977), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Charlotte Sting and the Houston Comets.
2. Shatonya Bargeman (born 1981), an American track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon and represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
3. Shatonya Patrice Johnson (born 1979), an American singer and songwriter known for her work in the gospel and contemporary Christian music genres.
4. Shatonya Cunningham (born 1985), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks and the San Antonio Silver Stars.
5. Shatonya Singleton (born 1982), an American author and motivational speaker, known for her work in advocating for mental health awareness and empowerment.
While the name Shatonya may be relatively modern in its origins, it carries with it a sense of cultural pride and individuality that reflects the experiences and aspirations of the African American community.
People
Shatonya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shatonya 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
Shatonya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shatonya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 205 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shatonya 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 1,671,972 US residents.
Is Shatonya a common name?
We classify Shatonya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shatonya most popular?
The single biggest year for Shatonya was 1980, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shatonya is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shatonya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 204 people with the name Shatonya, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,948 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 Shatonya 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 Shatonya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shatonya appears almost entirely female. Of the 211 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Shatonya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shatonya is Black at 96.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Two or More Races (1.0%). 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 Shatonya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shatonya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.1% (196 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 Shatonya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shatonya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shatonya 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 Shatonya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shatonya 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 Shatonya 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 Shatonya?
You can see how many Americans are named Shatonya on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.