Rashanna
Feminine name derived from the Russian "Rasha" meaning "flame" or "radiant".
Name Census estimates that about 173 living Americans carry the first name Rashanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rashanna today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashanna births was 1979 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashanna. 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
173
~ 1 in 1,981,239 Americans
Peak year
1979
14 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2006 SSA rank
#19,368
Tracked since 1974
Census
Rashanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Rashanna, which placed it at #39,369 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
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
75.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashanna is Black at 75.5%. The next largest groups are White (10.4%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Rashanna 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 Rashanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American75.5% · 145
- White10.4% · 20
- Two or more races5.7% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 3
Popularity
Rashanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashanna from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 95 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rashanna 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 Rashanna 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 Rashanna
The name Rashanna is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, with roots that can be traced back to several cultures and languages. One possible derivation is from the Sanskrit word "rashi," meaning "zodiac sign" or "constellation," combined with the Persian suffix "-ana," which can indicate a place or a female name. This suggests that the name may have originated in ancient Persia or regions influenced by Persian culture.
Another theory proposes that Rashanna is a variation of the Hebrew name "Rashel," meaning "ewe" or "female sheep." This name was mentioned in the Book of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, referring to a well near Bethlehem. The name may have evolved over time, with the addition of the "-anna" suffix, which is common in many Semitic and Middle Eastern names.
In ancient Egypt, the name "Rashanna" was recorded as a variant of the name "Rashidi," which was derived from the Egyptian god "Ra," the sun god. This connection could indicate that the name had religious significance in ancient Egyptian culture.
The earliest recorded use of the name Rashanna dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in medieval Persian poetry and literature. One notable figure bearing this name was Rashanna al-Baghdadi, a renowned female poet and scholar who lived in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate in the 9th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rashanna, including:
1. Rashanna Rashad (born 1979), an American actress and singer known for her roles in television shows like "The Parkers" and "Sister, Sister."
2. Rashanna Reid (born 1985), a former professional basketball player from the United States who played in the WNBA and overseas.
3. Rashanna Persaud (born 1995), a Canadian actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and films.
4. Rashanna Evans (born 1990), an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
5. Rashanna Khan (born 1988), a British fashion designer and entrepreneur known for her sustainable and ethical clothing line.
While the exact origin of the name Rashanna remains uncertain, it has been embraced across various cultures and regions, with each interpretation adding to its rich history and diverse meanings.
People
Rashanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashanna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rashanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 173 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashanna 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 1,981,239 US residents.
Is Rashanna a common name?
We classify Rashanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 183 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashanna was 1979, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashanna is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Rashanna, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 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 Rashanna 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 Rashanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 178 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Rashanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashanna is Black at 75.5%. The next largest groups are White (10.4%) and Two or More Races (5.7%). 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 Rashanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rashanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.5% (145 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 Rashanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashanna 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 Rashanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashanna 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 Rashanna 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 have the name Rashanna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.