Shawnette
A feminine variant of the English name Sean or Shawn, meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 674 living Americans carry the first name Shawnette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shawnette today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawnette births was 1976 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawnette. 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
674
~ 1 in 508,538 Americans
Peak year
1976
56 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2001 SSA rank
#17,543
Tracked since 1957
Census
Shawnette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 702 people with the first name Shawnette, which placed it at #16,164 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
#16,164
National first-name rank
People counted
702
702 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawnette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnette is Black at 59.8%. The next largest groups are White (30.8%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Shawnette 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 Shawnette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.8% · 420
- White30.8% · 216
- Two or more races5.1% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Shawnette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawnette from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 391 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
Shawnette 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 Shawnette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawnettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Shawnette, while Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawnette
The name Shawnette is a relatively modern feminine form of the male given name Shawn, which itself is an anglicized version of the Irish name Seán. Seán is derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious".
The earliest recorded use of the name Shawnette dates back to the late 19th century in the United States. It is believed to have originated as a more feminine variation of Shawn, following the trend of adding the diminutive suffix "-ette" to create feminine versions of traditionally masculine names.
While the name Shawnette does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its roots can be traced back to the biblical name John, which is the English form of the Hebrew Yochanan. The name John has been widely used throughout history and has been borne by numerous notable figures, including John the Baptist and several popes and kings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shawnette was in the 1880 United States Census, where a few individuals were listed with this name. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 20th century.
Notable individuals named Shawnette throughout history include:
1. Shawnette Sulker (born 1954), an American actress known for her roles in television shows like "The Waltons" and "Lou Grant".
2. Shawnette Renee Wilson (born 1969), an American actress and comedian best known for her role as Niecy Patterson on the sitcom "The Parkers".
3. Shawnette Renée Smith (born 1977), an American model and actress who has appeared in music videos and films.
4. Shawnette Rochelle (born 1979), an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name, Shawnee.
5. Shawnette Sadler (born 1985), an American singer and songwriter who has released several independent albums.
While not as common as some other feminine names, Shawnette has maintained a consistent presence throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, particularly in the United States. Its unique spelling and Irish-Hebrew origins contribute to its distinctiveness as a given name.
People
Shawnette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawnette 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
Shawnette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawnette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 674 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawnette 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 508,538 US residents.
Is Shawnette a common name?
We classify Shawnette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 750 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawnette most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawnette was 1976, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawnette is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawnette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 702 people with the name Shawnette, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,164 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 Shawnette 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 Shawnette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnette appears almost entirely female. Of the 703 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Shawnette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnette is Black at 59.8%. The next largest groups are White (30.8%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Shawnette most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawnette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.8% (420 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 Shawnette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawnette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shawnette 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 Shawnette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawnette 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 Shawnette 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 Shawnette?
You can see how many people have the name Shawnette on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.