Shawndell
A masculine name potentially originating from Irish Gaelic meaning "descendant of brown-haired one".
Name Census estimates that about 378 living Americans carry the first name Shawndell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Shawndell today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawndell births was 1973 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawndell. 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
378
~ 1 in 906,758 Americans
Peak year
1973
29 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2007 SSA rank
#12,128
Tracked since 1967
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawndell
Shawndell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 404 total registrations, 258 (63.9%) were male and 146 (36.1%) were female.
Shawndell as a male name
- Ranked #12,128 in 2007
- 6 male births in 2007
- Peak: 1978 (15 births)
Shawndell as a female name
- Ranked #15,036 in 1991
- 5 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1973 (20 births)
Popularity
Shawndell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawndell 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 186 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
Shawndell 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 Shawndell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawndells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawndell
The name Shawndell is a modern English name that is thought to have originated as a variant spelling of the Irish name Seánadh, which means "antiquarian" or "historian." The root of the name can be traced back to the Old Irish word "senchaid," meaning "ancient lore" or "tradition."
In the early medieval period, Seánadh was a relatively common name among Irish scholars and scribes who were responsible for preserving and transmitting ancient Celtic traditions and histories. It is possible that the name Shawndell emerged as an anglicized version of this name, reflecting the influence of English culture on Irish naming practices.
While there are no definitive historical records of the name Shawndell itself being used in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name's connection to the Irish tradition of preserving historical knowledge and cultural heritage is noteworthy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shawndell can be found in the 17th century, when a man named Shawndell O'Brien was listed as a landowner in County Clare, Ireland, in the Cromwellian settlement records of the 1650s. However, it is likely that the name existed in various spellings before this time.
Throughout history, a few notable individuals have borne the name Shawndell, though it has remained relatively uncommon. These include:
1. Shawndell Blackwell (born 1980), an American professional basketball player who played in the NBA and various international leagues.
2. Shawndell Hendrix (born 1976), an American former professional football player who played as a defensive back in the NFL.
3. Shawndell Terry (born 1987), an American former professional basketball player who played in Europe and Asia.
4. Shawndell Coker (born 1975), an American former professional football player who played as a defensive back in the NFL.
5. Shawndell Williams (born 1982), an American former professional basketball player who played in various international leagues.
While not an extensively documented name throughout history, Shawndell's roots in Irish tradition and its connection to the preservation of knowledge and cultural heritage make it a name with a rich and interesting backstory.
People
Shawndell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawndell 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
Shawndell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawndell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawndell 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 906,758 US residents.
Is Shawndell a common name?
We classify Shawndell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 404 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawndell most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawndell was 1973, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawndell is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shawndell a male name?
Yes, 63.9% of people registered as Shawndell in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.