Shawanna
Of Native American origin, meaning "my fair one" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,298 living Americans carry the first name Shawanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shawanna today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawanna births was 1977 (94 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawanna. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 264,063 Americans
Peak year
1977
94 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2003 SSA rank
#17,977
Tracked since 1963
Census
Shawanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,164 people with the first name Shawanna, which placed it at #11,155 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
#11,155
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,164 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawanna is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Shawanna 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 Shawanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.5% · 1,042
- White5.3% · 62
- Two or more races3.2% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Shawanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawanna from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 597 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shawanna 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 Shawanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Georgia, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Shawanna, while Tennessee, New Jersey, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawanna
The name Shawanna has its origins rooted in the Native American Shawnee tribe, originating from the Eastern Woodlands cultural area of present-day Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The name is believed to have derived from the Shawnee language word "shawun," meaning "southerner" or "from the south."
In the early colonial period, the Shawnee tribe played a significant role in the history of the Ohio Valley region. They were known for their resistance against British and American encroachment on their lands, forming alliances with other tribes and engaging in conflicts such as the Northwest Indian War and Tecumseh's War.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shawanna can be traced back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when interactions between European settlers and Native Americans became more frequent. One of the earliest known individuals with the name was Shawanna, a Shawnee woman who lived in the late 1700s and was involved in negotiations between her tribe and the American government.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Shawanna. One such figure was Shawanna Longhouse (c. 1822 - 1900), a prominent Shawnee leader and orator who advocated for the rights of her people and played a crucial role in preserving their cultural traditions.
Another notable Shawanna was Shawanna Doris (1910 - 1986), a Shawnee artist renowned for her intricate beadwork and textile designs, which were exhibited in museums across the United States. Her work helped to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of the Shawnee people.
In the realm of literature, Shawanna Monique (1935 - 2018) was a celebrated author and poet who drew inspiration from her Native American roots. Her works explored themes of identity, spirituality, and the enduring strength of indigenous communities.
Shawanna Littlefair (1942 - 2021) was a prominent activist and advocate for Native American rights. She dedicated her life to raising awareness about the issues faced by indigenous communities and worked tirelessly to promote social justice and self-determination.
Throughout the centuries, the name Shawanna has been a testament to the resilience and cultural richness of the Shawnee people. Its enduring presence serves as a reminder of the deep-rooted connections between language, identity, and the preservation of indigenous traditions.
People
Shawanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawanna 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
Shawanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,298 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawanna 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 264,063 US residents.
Is Shawanna a common name?
We classify Shawanna as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,404 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawanna was 1977, when 94 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawanna 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 Shawanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,164 people with the name Shawanna, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,155 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 Shawanna 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 Shawanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,166 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Shawanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawanna is Black at 89.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.3%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Shawanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.5% (1,042 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 Shawanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shawanna 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 Shawanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawanna 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 Shawanna 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 Shawanna?
You can see how many Americans are named Shawanna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.