Shona
A feminine name of Southern African origin representing beautiful flower.
Name Census estimates that about 2,149 living Americans carry the first name Shona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shona today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shona births was 1970 (160 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shona. 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
2.1K
~ 1 in 159,495 Americans
Peak year
1970
160 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,973
Tracked since 1943
Popularity
Shona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shona from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 958 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
Shona 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 Shona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Shona, while South Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shona
The name Shona originates from the Shona people, an ethnic group native to Zimbabwe and neighboring regions of southern Africa. The Shona language is a Bantu language spoken by the Shona people, and the name is derived from this linguistic tradition.
In the Shona language, the word "shona" means "to be humbled" or "to show respect." The name is thought to have been given to children as a way of instilling values of humility and respect from an early age. It is an ancient name with roots dating back centuries, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the Shona people.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Shona can be traced back to historical accounts and records from the 16th century, during the era of the Mutapa Empire, a powerful kingdom that ruled over parts of present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Shona was Shona Mupunzagutu, a renowned spiritual leader and advisor to the Mutapa rulers in the late 16th century. His influence and wisdom were widely respected throughout the kingdom.
In the 19th century, Shona Nehanda was a powerful female spiritual leader and revolutionary figure who played a crucial role in the First Chimurenga, a series of uprisings against British colonial rule in Zimbabwe. She is revered as a national heroine and symbol of resistance against oppression.
Another notable figure was Shona Nkomo, a prominent Zimbabwean politician and trade unionist who was a key figure in the country's struggle for independence from British rule in the 1960s and 1970s. He served as the Vice-President of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 1999.
In the literary realm, Shona Tsitsi Dangarembga is a celebrated Zimbabwean author and filmmaker. Her novel "Nervous Conditions," published in 1988, is considered a seminal work in African literature and has been widely acclaimed for its exploration of gender, race, and colonialism.
Shona Mashava was a renowned Zimbabwean sculptor who gained international recognition for his intricate stone carvings, which drew inspiration from the rich cultural traditions of the Shona people. His works are celebrated for their intricate details and symbolic representations of Shona mythology and spirituality.
People
Shona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shona 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
Shona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,149 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shona 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 159,495 US residents.
Is Shona a common name?
We classify Shona as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,414 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shona most popular?
The single biggest year for Shona was 1970, when 160 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shona is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Shona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shona 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.