Shawnelle
A feminine name, a variant spelling of Shawnell or Shawna.
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Shawnelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shawnelle today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawnelle births was 1993 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawnelle. 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
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
1993
10 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1995 SSA rank
#11,594
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shawnelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Shawnelle, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawnelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnelle is Black at 41.2%. The next largest groups are White (40.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.3%). 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 Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.2% · 70
- White40.6% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.3% · 9
- Two or more races4.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 7
Popularity
Shawnelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawnelle from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Shawnelle remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle
The name Shawnelle is believed to have its origins in a combination of the Irish name Siún and the French name Nelle. The name Siún is derived from the Gaelic name Siobhán, which means "God is gracious." Nelle, on the other hand, is a French form of the name Helen, which is derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright one."
The earliest recorded use of the name Shawnelle can be traced back to the late 19th century in the United States, particularly in areas with a significant Irish and French population. It is possible that the name was initially created by combining the two names Siún and Nelle to reflect the cultural heritage of families with Irish and French roots.
While the name Shawnelle does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is worth noting that the names Siún and Nelle have been used throughout history in various contexts.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shawnelle was Shawnelle Stephens, an American author and poet born in 1892 in Illinois. Her works, primarily focused on nature and spirituality, were published in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure with the name Shawnelle was Shawnelle Fairbanks, an American actress and singer born in 1923 in California. She had a successful career on Broadway and in several Hollywood films during the mid-20th century.
In the field of sports, Shawnelle Roby was a professional basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) during the early 2000s. She was born in 1979 in Alabama and played for several WNBA teams, including the Detroit Shock and the San Antonio Stars.
Shawnelle Monique Scott, born in 1975 in Texas, is a prominent figure in the field of education. She is an author, speaker, and advocate for educational reform, with a focus on promoting equity and inclusivity in the classroom.
Lastly, Shawnelle Moore, born in 1982 in California, is a renowned fashion designer and entrepreneur. Her clothing line, which celebrates diversity and empowerment, has gained recognition and acclaim in the fashion industry.
People
Shawnelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawnelle 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
Shawnelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawnelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawnelle 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Shawnelle a common name?
We classify Shawnelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 117 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawnelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawnelle was 1993, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawnelle is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawnelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Shawnelle, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnelle leans strongly female. 159 people counted with this name were female (95.2%), compared with 8 male bearers (4.8%). 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 Shawnelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnelle is Black at 41.2%. The next largest groups are White (40.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (5.3%). 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 Shawnelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawnelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.2% (70 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 Shawnelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawnelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle 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 Shawnelle?
Want to know how many people have the name Shawnelle? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.