Vashon
An Americanized spelling of a French name derived from Gascony.
Name Census estimates that about 793 living Americans carry the first name Vashon. It is a predominantly male name (91.7% of registrations). The average person named Vashon today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vashon births was 1973 (125 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vashon. 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
793
~ 1 in 432,225 Americans
Peak year
1973
125 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2023 SSA rank
#6,792
Tracked since 1972
Census
Vashon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 646 people with the first name Vashon, which placed it at #17,193 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
#17,193
National first-name rank
People counted
646
646 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vashon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vashon is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Vashon 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 Vashon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.2% · 557
- Two or more races5.3% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 27
- White2.8% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Vashon
Vashon leans heavily male at 91.7% of total registrations, but 69 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vashon as a male name
- Ranked #14,034 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1973 (96 births)
Vashon as a female name
- Ranked #6,792 in 1981
- 10 female births in 1981
- Peak: 1973 (29 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vashon leans strongly male. 565 people counted with this name were male (86.8%), compared with 86 female bearers (13.2%).
Popularity
Vashon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vashon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 346 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
Vashon 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 Vashon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vashons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Florida, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Vashon, while Tennessee, North Carolina, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vashon
The given name Vashon has its origins in the Native American Salishan language family. It was originally a place name referring to the Vashon Island located in Puget Sound, Washington State. The name is derived from the Salishan word "vahshawn" meaning "prairies" or "open areas amidst the forest".
Vashon Island was named by the British explorer George Vancouver in 1792 after his friend James Vashon, a Royal Navy officer. This marked one of the earliest recorded uses of the name Vashon in the English language.
In the late 18th century, the name gained some popularity among European settlers in the Pacific Northwest region of North America, likely due to its Native American origins and association with the picturesque Vashon Island.
One of the earliest known individuals with the first name Vashon was Vashon Ely (1787-1854), an American farmer and surveyor who lived in Ohio. He was among the first settlers in the area and played a role in the early development of the state.
Another notable historical figure with the name was Vashon Haywood (1822-1898), an African American businessman and abolitionist from Tennessee. He was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement and later became a successful entrepreneur.
In the 19th century, the name Vashon also gained some popularity in France, possibly influenced by the French presence in the Pacific Northwest region during that time. One example is Vashon Le Camus (1828-1901), a French painter and sculptor known for his works depicting rural life.
The name Vashon appeared in several historical records and documents from the late 18th and 19th centuries, particularly in the Pacific Northwest region and parts of the United States with Native American influences.
Another individual with the name was Vashon Vaught (1892-1965), an American soldier who served in World War I and received the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in combat.
While the name Vashon has its roots in Native American culture, it has been adopted and used by individuals from various backgrounds throughout history, particularly in areas with connections to the Pacific Northwest region and its indigenous populations.
People
Vashon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vashon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vashon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vashon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 793 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vashon 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 432,225 US residents.
Is Vashon a common name?
We classify Vashon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 831 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vashon most popular?
The single biggest year for Vashon was 1973, when 125 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vashon is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vashon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 646 people with the name Vashon, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,193 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 Vashon 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 Vashon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vashon leans strongly male. 565 people counted with this name were male (86.8%), compared with 86 female bearers (13.2%). 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 Vashon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vashon is Black at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (4.2%). 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 Vashon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Vashon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (557 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 Vashon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vashon a male name?
Yes, 91.7% of people registered as Vashon in the SSA data are male. 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 Vashon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vashon 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 Vashon 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 named Vashon?
Find out how many Americans are named Vashon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.