Shawntay
A feminine name possibly derived from the French Chantez meaning "sing".
Name Census estimates that about 686 living Americans carry the first name Shawntay. It is a predominantly female name (95.2% of registrations). The average person named Shawntay today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawntay births was 1978 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawntay. 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
686
~ 1 in 499,642 Americans
Peak year
1978
48 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1985 SSA rank
#7,420
Tracked since 1967
Census
Shawntay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 590 people with the first name Shawntay, which placed it at #18,296 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
#18,296
National first-name rank
People counted
590
590 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawntay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawntay is Black at 71.2%. The next largest groups are White (11.7%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Shawntay 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 Shawntay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.2% · 420
- White11.7% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 41
- Two or more races6.6% · 39
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawntay
Shawntay leans heavily female at 95.2% of total registrations, but 35 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shawntay as a male name
- Ranked #7,420 in 1985
- 5 male births in 1985
- Peak: 1978 (7 births)
Shawntay as a female name
- Ranked #17,288 in 2007
- 6 female births in 2007
- Peak: 1977 (41 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawntay leans strongly female. 554 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 41 male bearers (6.9%).
Popularity
Shawntay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawntay from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 279 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shawntay 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 Shawntay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawntays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, New York, Ohio recorded the most babies named Shawntay, while New Mexico, Maryland, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawntay
The name Shawntay is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically from the region of Normandy in northern France. It is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of the French name Jeanne, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Shawntay can be traced back to the late 16th century in France. It is possible that the name was initially used as a nickname or shortened version of Jeanne, which was a common name among French women during that time period.
While the name Shawntay does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the more widely used name Jeanne suggests a potential link to the biblical figure of John the Baptist, whose name is Yohanan in Hebrew.
In terms of notable historical figures, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shawntay was Shawntay Dubois, a French noblewoman who lived in the late 17th century. Another notable bearer of the name was Shawntay Lafontaine, a French actress and singer from the early 19th century.
In the 20th century, the name gained some popularity in the United States, particularly among African American communities. One notable figure with this name was Shawntay Johnson, an American civil rights activist who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956.
Another famous individual with the name Shawntay was Shawntay Williams, an American singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in the 1990s as part of the R&B group Xscape.
Lastly, Shawntay Latham was an American basketball player who played in the WNBA during the early 2000s, known for her time with the Minnesota Lynx and the Indiana Fever.
While the name Shawntay has roots in French language and culture, it has since been adopted and used across various communities and regions, particularly in the United States, where it has gained popularity as a unique and distinctive name choice.
People
Shawntay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawntay 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
Shawntay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawntay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawntay 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 499,642 US residents.
Is Shawntay a common name?
We classify Shawntay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawntay most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawntay was 1978, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawntay is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawntay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 590 people with the name Shawntay, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,296 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 Shawntay 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 Shawntay?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawntay leans strongly female. 554 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 41 male bearers (6.9%). 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 Shawntay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawntay is Black at 71.2%. The next largest groups are White (11.7%) and Hispanic (6.9%). 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 Shawntay most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawntay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.2% (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 Shawntay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawntay a female name?
Yes, 95.2% of people registered as Shawntay 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 Shawntay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawntay 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 Shawntay 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 Shawntay?
Want to know how many Americans are named Shawntay? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.