Shawnell
Of uncertain origin, potentially a feminine variant of the name Shawn.
Name Census estimates that about 248 living Americans carry the first name Shawnell. It is a predominantly female name (92.2% of registrations). The average person named Shawnell today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawnell births was 1978 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawnell. 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
248
~ 1 in 1,382,074 Americans
Peak year
1978
16 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1994 SSA rank
#8,645
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shawnell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 304 people with the first name Shawnell, which placed it at #29,229 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
#29,229
National first-name rank
People counted
304
304 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawnell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnell is Black at 56.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Shawnell 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 Shawnell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.3% · 171
- White28.3% · 86
- Two or more races7.6% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawnell
Shawnell leans heavily female at 92.2% of total registrations, but 21 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shawnell as a male name
- Ranked #8,645 in 1994
- 6 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1994 (6 births)
Shawnell as a female name
- Ranked #13,174 in 1994
- 6 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1978 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnell leans strongly female. 252 people counted with this name were female (84.6%), compared with 46 male bearers (15.4%).
Popularity
Shawnell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawnell from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 131 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Shawnell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shawnell 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 Shawnell 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 Shawnell
The given name Shawnell is believed to have its origins in the Gaelic language, tracing back to the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland. It is thought to be derived from the Old Irish word "sémh," meaning "peaceful" or "calm." The name may have evolved from the masculine form "Sémhán," which was later anglicized to "Shawnee" or "Shawn."
In the early medieval period, the name Shawnell was likely used by Celtic families in Ireland and Scotland, particularly those belonging to noble or influential clans. However, there are no definitive historical records or ancient texts that directly reference this specific name during this time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shawnell dates back to the late 16th century, when a woman by the name of Shawnell O'Brien was born in County Clare, Ireland, around 1575. She was a member of the prominent O'Brien clan and is believed to have been a noblewoman during the Elizabethan era.
Another notable figure bearing the name Shawnell was a Scottish woman named Shawnell MacGregor, who lived in the early 17th century. She was born around 1610 in the Highlands of Scotland and was part of the influential MacGregor clan, known for their fierce loyalty and warrior traditions.
In the 18th century, a woman named Shawnell O'Connor gained recognition as a skilled weaver and textile artist in County Cork, Ireland. Born in 1725, her intricate tapestries and embroidered works were highly regarded among the local gentry and aristocracy.
Moving into the 19th century, Shawnell McDowell was a notable figure in the American West. Born in 1820 in Kentucky, she was a pioneer and adventurer who traveled across the Great Plains and settled in Oregon in the 1840s, where she became a respected member of the local community.
Another individual of historical significance was Shawnell Byrne, an Irish-American activist and advocate for women's rights. Born in 1865 in New York City to Irish immigrant parents, she was a vocal supporter of the suffrage movement and worked tirelessly to promote gender equality and social justice.
While the name Shawnell has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures, it has endured through the centuries and has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds and regions, each leaving their own unique mark on history.
People
Shawnell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawnell 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
Shawnell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawnell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 248 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawnell 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 1,382,074 US residents.
Is Shawnell a common name?
We classify Shawnell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 269 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawnell most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawnell was 1978, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawnell is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawnell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 304 people with the name Shawnell, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,229 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 Shawnell 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 Shawnell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnell leans strongly female. 252 people counted with this name were female (84.6%), compared with 46 male bearers (15.4%). 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 Shawnell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnell is Black at 56.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Shawnell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawnell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.3% (171 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 Shawnell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawnell a female name?
Yes, 92.2% of people registered as Shawnell 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 Shawnell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawnell 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 Shawnell 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 common is the name Shawnell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.