Shawntel
A feminine name derived from the French name Chantal, ultimately from Latin "cantare" meaning "to sing".
Name Census estimates that about 1,079 living Americans carry the first name Shawntel. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Shawntel today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawntel births was 1995 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawntel. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 317,659 Americans
Peak year
1995
63 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1985 SSA rank
#7,421
Tracked since 1963
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawntel
Shawntel leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 17 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shawntel as a male name
- Ranked #7,421 in 1985
- 5 male births in 1985
- Peak: 1975 (7 births)
Shawntel as a female name
- Ranked #14,618 in 2011
- 7 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1995 (63 births)
Popularity
Shawntel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawntel from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 370 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
Shawntel 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 Shawntel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawntels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Shawntel, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawntel
The name Shawntel is a modern variant of the more traditional name Chantal, which originates from the French language. The name Chantal is derived from the Latin word "cantus," meaning "song" or "melody." It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in France, around the 12th or 13th century.
While the exact origin of the spelling variation "Shawntel" is not entirely clear, it is believed to have developed in English-speaking regions, possibly as a way to reflect the pronunciation of the name more accurately. The prefix "Shaw" may have been added to represent the "sh" sound at the beginning of the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shawntel can be found in the United States in the late 20th century. However, there are no known historical figures or prominent individuals from earlier periods who bore this particular spelling variation.
Some notable individuals with the name Shawntel throughout history include:
1. Shawntel Smith (born 1984), an American reality television personality and broadcast journalist.
2. Shawntel Newton (born 1988), an American actress and model.
3. Shawntel Hebert (born 1981), an American beauty queen and Miss Louisiana USA 2008.
4. Shawntel Hislam (born 1986), a Canadian curler and member of the Saskatchewan women's curling team.
5. Shawntel Wion (born 1988), an American singer and songwriter.
It is worth noting that while the name Shawntel has gained popularity in recent decades, its roots can be traced back to the medieval French name Chantal, which itself has a rich linguistic heritage stemming from the Latin word "cantus."
People
Shawntel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawntel 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
Shawntel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawntel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,079 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawntel 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 317,659 US residents.
Is Shawntel a common name?
We classify Shawntel as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawntel most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawntel was 1995, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawntel is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shawntel a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Shawntel 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.
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.