Rashaunda
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend of other names.
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Rashaunda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Rashaunda today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rashaunda births was 1990 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rashaunda. 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
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
1990
20 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,280
Tracked since 1972
Census
Rashaunda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Rashaunda, which placed it at #36,520 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
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rashaunda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashaunda is Black at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.8%). 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 Rashaunda 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 Rashaunda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.1% · 202
- Two or more races4.1% · 9
- White2.8% · 6
Popularity
Rashaunda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rashaunda from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 142 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Rashaunda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rashaunda 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 Rashaunda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rashaundas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Rashaunda
The name Rashaunda is of African-American origin, emerging in the late 20th century as a combination of the common names Rashad and LaShonda. Its roots can be traced back to Arabic and African influences, reflecting the rich cultural diversity of the African diaspora.
The first part of the name, "Rash," is believed to derive from the Arabic word "rashid," meaning "righteous" or "guided by God." This element is found in many traditional Arabic names, such as Rashid and Rashida. The latter part, "aunda," is likely inspired by the West African name Shaundra or Shaunda, which has roots in the Yoruba language and means "blessed child."
While the name Rashaunda has no direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components carry cultural significance and reflect the blending of different linguistic traditions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rashaunda can be found in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s, coinciding with the rise of the Black Power movement and the increasing popularity of Afrocentric names among African Americans.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Rashaunda:
1. Rashaunda Bush (born 1982), an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA and overseas leagues.
2. Rashaunda Saddler (born 1990), an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
3. Rashaunda Amerson (born 1989), an American basketball player who played professionally in Europe.
4. Rashaunda Jemerson (born 1980), an American actress and singer known for her roles in television shows and stage productions.
5. Rashaunda Stephens (born 1985), an American entrepreneur and author who founded a successful beauty and lifestyle brand.
These individuals, spanning various fields such as sports, entertainment, and business, have helped to popularize and spread the name Rashaunda across different communities and cultural contexts.
People
Rashaunda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rashaunda 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
Rashaunda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rashaunda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rashaunda 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Rashaunda a common name?
We classify Rashaunda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 253 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rashaunda most popular?
The single biggest year for Rashaunda was 1990, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rashaunda is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rashaunda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Rashaunda, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 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 Rashaunda 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 Rashaunda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rashaunda appears almost entirely female. Of the 217 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 Rashaunda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rashaunda is Black at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.1%) and White (2.8%). 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 Rashaunda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rashaunda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (202 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 Rashaunda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rashaunda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rashaunda 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 Rashaunda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rashaunda 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 Rashaunda 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 Americans are named Rashaunda?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Rashaunda, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.