Shawnie
Shawnie is a feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "from the woods".
Name Census estimates that about 510 living Americans carry the first name Shawnie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shawnie today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawnie births was 1992 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawnie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Shawnie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
510
~ 1 in 672,067 Americans
Peak year
1992
36 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2014 SSA rank
#18,829
Tracked since 1949
Census
Shawnie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 581 people with the first name Shawnie, which placed it at #18,526 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
#18,526
National first-name rank
People counted
581
581 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawnie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnie is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Shawnie 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 Shawnie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.6% · 416
- Black or African American11.5% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 48
- Two or more races4.0% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 12
Popularity
Shawnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawnie from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 189 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shawnie 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 Shawnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawnies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawnie
The name Shawnie has its roots in the Scottish Gaelic language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Shawn, which itself is derived from the Irish name Seán or Séan, meaning "God is gracious" or "God's gift." The earliest recorded use of the name Shawnie dates back to the 17th century in Scotland.
One of the earliest documented individuals with the name Shawnie was Shawnie MacLeod, a Scottish Highlander who lived in the late 17th century. He was known for his bravery and loyalty to the MacLeod clan during the tumultuous times of the Jacobite uprisings.
In the 18th century, a notable figure named Shawnie Campbell gained recognition for her involvement in the Battle of Culloden in 1746. She is said to have fought alongside her husband, defying gender norms of the time, and her bravery was celebrated in Scottish folk songs and stories.
Moving into the 19th century, Shawnie Douglas, a Scottish poet and writer, was born in 1820. He is remembered for his contributions to the literary scene in Scotland, particularly his poems and short stories that captured the essence of rural life in the Highlands.
Another prominent individual with the name Shawnie was Shawnie Mackenzie, a Scottish explorer and naturalist born in 1856. He is known for his expeditions to the Arctic regions, where he studied the flora and fauna, as well as the indigenous cultures of the far north.
In the 20th century, Shawnie Grant, a Scottish musician and singer, was born in 1925. She gained popularity for her interpretations of traditional Scottish folk songs and her efforts in preserving the rich musical heritage of her homeland.
While the name Shawnie has Scottish roots, it has also found its way into other cultures and languages over time, with variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, its strong connection to Scottish heritage and the Gaelic language remains a significant part of its history and cultural significance.
People
Shawnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawnie 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
Shawnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 510 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawnie 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 672,067 US residents.
Is Shawnie a common name?
We classify Shawnie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 559 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawnie was 1992, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawnie 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 Shawnie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 581 people with the name Shawnie, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,526 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 Shawnie 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 Shawnie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnie leans strongly female. 559 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 22 male bearers (3.8%). 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 Shawnie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnie is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Shawnie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Shawnie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.6% (416 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 Shawnie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawnie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shawnie 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 Shawnie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawnie 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 Shawnie 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 Shawnie?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Shawnie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.