Keshanna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from African languages.
Name Census estimates that about 75 living Americans carry the first name Keshanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Keshanna today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Keshanna births was 1997 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Keshanna. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Keshanna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
75
~ 1 in 4,570,058 Americans
Peak year
1997
11 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2004 SSA rank
#15,140
Tracked since 1980
Census
Keshanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 105 people with the first name Keshanna, which placed it at #52,717 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
#52,717
National first-name rank
People counted
105
105 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Keshanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshanna is Black at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Keshanna 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 Keshanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.3% · 99
- White1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 1
- Two or more races1.0% · 1
Popularity
Keshanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Keshanna from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 37 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
Keshanna 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 Keshanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Keshanna
The name Keshanna is a modern English name with uncertain origins, but it is believed to have been derived from a combination of different cultural influences. One theory suggests that it may have originated from the Sanskrit word "Keshava," which means "long-haired" or "having beautiful hair." This connection could link the name to ancient Indian culture and mythology.
Another possibility is that Keshanna has roots in the Native American languages, as some linguists have pointed out similarities with names from certain tribes. For instance, the Ojibwe people have a name "Keshena," which means "swift-flowing." However, there is no concrete historical evidence to confirm this connection conclusively.
Despite its uncertain beginnings, the name Keshanna has been recorded in written records from the late 20th century onwards. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Keshanna Gill, a British singer and actress born in 1980. She achieved some fame for her roles in various television shows and musicals in the United Kingdom.
Another notable person named Keshanna was Keshanna Vaughn, an American professional basketball player born in 1985. She played for several teams in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and overseas leagues, showcasing her athletic prowess on the court.
In the literary world, Keshanna Randall was an American author and poet who published several collections of poetry and short stories in the early 2000s. Her works often explored themes of identity, relationships, and personal growth.
Keshanna Hinton, born in 1992, was a prominent activist and community organizer in the United States. She advocated for social justice, racial equality, and youth empowerment, dedicating her efforts to creating positive change in her local community and beyond.
Lastly, Keshanna Williams, born in 1988, was a successful entrepreneur and businesswoman who founded a successful fashion and lifestyle brand. Her company gained recognition for its innovative designs and commitment to sustainability, earning her numerous accolades in the industry.
While the name Keshanna may have obscure origins, these individuals have helped to shape its modern identity and association with various fields, from entertainment and sports to literature, activism, and entrepreneurship.
People
Keshanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Keshanna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Keshanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Keshanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 75 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Keshanna 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 4,570,058 US residents.
Is Keshanna a common name?
We classify Keshanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 78 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Keshanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Keshanna was 1997, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Keshanna is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Keshanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 105 people with the name Keshanna, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,717 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 Keshanna 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 Keshanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Keshanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 112 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Keshanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Keshanna is Black at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.9%). 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 Keshanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Keshanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (99 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 Keshanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Keshanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Keshanna 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 Keshanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Keshanna 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 Keshanna 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 Keshanna?
You can see how many people have the name Keshanna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.