Dushawn
A masculine name of French and African American origin meaning "vigorous shawn".
Name Census estimates that about 430 living Americans carry the first name Dushawn. It is a predominantly male name (97.6% of registrations). The average person named Dushawn today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dushawn births was 1975 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dushawn. 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
430
~ 1 in 797,103 Americans
Peak year
1975
25 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2017 SSA rank
#7,531
Tracked since 1967
Census
Dushawn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 337 people with the first name Dushawn, which placed it at #27,242 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
#27,242
National first-name rank
People counted
337
337 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dushawn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dushawn is Black at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Dushawn 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 Dushawn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.2% · 294
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 20
- Two or more races4.5% · 15
- White1.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Dushawn
Dushawn leans heavily male at 97.6% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Dushawn as a male name
- Ranked #12,805 in 2017
- 5 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1975 (25 births)
Dushawn as a female name
- Ranked #7,531 in 1972
- 6 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1972 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dushawn leans strongly male. 315 people counted with this name were male (90.8%), compared with 32 female bearers (9.2%).
Popularity
Dushawn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dushawn 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 135 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
Dushawn 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 Dushawn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dushawns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dushawn
The name Dushawn is believed to have its origins in African American culture, emerging in the United States during the 20th century. It is a combination of the name "Duane" and the suffix "-shawn," which is derived from the Irish name Seán or its English variant, John.
While the exact origin and meaning of Dushawn are not entirely clear, it is thought to be a modern invented name created within African American communities. The name does not appear to have any direct historical references or connections to ancient texts or religious scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Dushawn can be found in the case of Dushawn Pitts, an American football player who was born in 1973. Another notable figure with this name is Dushawn Moses, an American professional basketball player born in 1978.
Dushawn Brown, an American actor and comedian, was born in 1976 and is known for his work in films such as "Scary Movie 5" and television shows like "Tuca & Bertie." Dushawn Putman, an American football player, was born in 1987 and played for several teams in the National Football League (NFL).
Dushawn Brooks, an American professional basketball player, was born in 1975 and played in various leagues, including the NBA Development League and overseas leagues.
While the name Dushawn is relatively modern and does not have a long historical lineage, it has gained popularity within certain communities, particularly in the United States. The name reflects the cultural diversity and creativity in naming practices, often combining elements from different linguistic and ethnic backgrounds.
People
Dushawn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dushawn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dushawn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dushawn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 430 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dushawn 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 797,103 US residents.
Is Dushawn a common name?
We classify Dushawn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 451 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dushawn most popular?
The single biggest year for Dushawn was 1975, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dushawn is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dushawn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 337 people with the name Dushawn, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,242 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 Dushawn 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 Dushawn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dushawn leans strongly male. 315 people counted with this name were male (90.8%), compared with 32 female bearers (9.2%). 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 Dushawn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dushawn is Black at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Dushawn most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Dushawn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (294 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 Dushawn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dushawn a male name?
Yes, 97.6% of people registered as Dushawn 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 Dushawn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dushawn 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 Dushawn 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 share the name Dushawn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.