Shaundra
An English feminine given name potentially derived from Alexandra or Cassandra.
Name Census estimates that about 901 living Americans carry the first name Shaundra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shaundra today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shaundra births was 1981 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shaundra. 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
901
~ 1 in 380,415 Americans
Peak year
1981
53 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2003 SSA rank
#15,462
Tracked since 1961
Census
Shaundra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 867 people with the first name Shaundra, which placed it at #13,799 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
#13,799
National first-name rank
People counted
867
867 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shaundra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaundra is Black at 58.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Shaundra 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 Shaundra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.9% · 511
- White33.6% · 291
- Two or more races4.5% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Shaundra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shaundra from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 384 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shaundra 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 Shaundra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shaundras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Shaundra, while Florida, Tennessee, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shaundra
The name Shaundra is a relatively modern English feminine name that emerged in the 20th century. It is believed to be a combination of the names Sharon and Sandra, both of which have their roots in ancient languages.
Sharon is derived from the Hebrew word "sharon," which means "plain" or "level ground." The name was initially used as a place name in the Bible, referring to a fertile coastal region in ancient Israel. Sandra, on the other hand, is a variant of the Greek name Alexandra, which means "defender of mankind."
While there is no specific historical reference to the name Shaundra itself, its components have been used for centuries. The earliest recorded use of the name Sharon dates back to the Old Testament, while Alexandra was a popular name among ancient Greek and Roman nobility.
One of the earliest notable individuals named Shaundra was Shaundra Cartwright, an American actress born in 1960. She is best known for her roles in television shows such as "The Cosby Show" and "A Different World."
Another prominent figure with the name Shaundra is Shaundra Scott, an American basketball player born in 1983. She played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Detroit Shock and the New York Liberty.
In the world of music, Shaundra Nicholson, born in 1970, is a renowned soprano who has performed with various opera companies and orchestras around the globe.
Shaundra Bryant, born in 1972, is an American author and motivational speaker known for her self-help books and workshops on personal growth and empowerment.
Lastly, Shaundra Lindsay, born in 1978, is a former professional tennis player from the United States who reached a career-high ranking of No. 28 in the world in singles and won three WTA Tour titles.
While the name Shaundra may not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity in recent decades and has been borne by several accomplished individuals across various fields, from entertainment to sports and literature.
People
Shaundra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shaundra 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
Shaundra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shaundra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 901 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shaundra 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 380,415 US residents.
Is Shaundra a common name?
We classify Shaundra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 978 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shaundra most popular?
The single biggest year for Shaundra was 1981, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shaundra 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 Shaundra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 867 people with the name Shaundra, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,799 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 Shaundra 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 Shaundra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shaundra appears almost entirely female. Of the 863 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 Shaundra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shaundra is Black at 58.9%. The next largest groups are White (33.6%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Shaundra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shaundra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.9% (511 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 Shaundra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shaundra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shaundra 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 Shaundra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shaundra 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 Shaundra 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 are called Shaundra?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.