Shalana
Meaning unknown, possibly derived from the name Sheila or Shailene.
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Shalana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shalana today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shalana births was 1985 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shalana. 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
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
1985
38 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2008 SSA rank
#19,992
Tracked since 1969
Census
Shalana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 516 people with the first name Shalana, which placed it at #20,138 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
#20,138
National first-name rank
People counted
516
516 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shalana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalana is Black at 56.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Shalana 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 Shalana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.0% · 289
- White27.9% · 144
- Two or more races6.6% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 9
Popularity
Shalana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shalana from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 270 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
Shalana 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 Shalana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shalanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Louisiana, Michigan recorded the most babies named Shalana, while Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shalana
The name Shalana is a modern feminine name of uncertain origin. It does not appear to have any clear roots in ancient languages or cultures. There are no known historical references to this name in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records from major civilizations.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Shalana are relatively recent, with the first known instances appearing in the late 20th century. It is possible that the name was created as a combination of existing names or words, but its precise derivation is unclear.
While the name Shalana is relatively uncommon, there are a few notable individuals who have borne this first name throughout history. One example is Shalana Bly, an American actress and model born in 1979, known for her roles in various television shows and films.
Another individual with this name is Shalana Segers, a Dutch singer and songwriter who rose to prominence in the early 2000s with her debut album "Shalana." She was born in 1985 and has since released several successful albums in the Netherlands.
In the field of sports, Shalana Booker is an American professional basketball player who has played in the WNBA. She was born in 1991 and attended the University of Arizona before being drafted by the Seattle Storm in 2013.
Shalana Hunter is an American author and entrepreneur who has written several books on personal development and self-empowerment. She was born in 1978 and is also known for her motivational speaking engagements.
Lastly, Shalana Morris is a British artist and illustrator known for her work in children's books and comic strips. She was born in 1982 and has published several books featuring her whimsical illustrations.
While the name Shalana is not as widely used as some other names, it has gained a modest following in recent decades, particularly in Western countries. However, its precise origins and historical significance remain somewhat of a mystery.
People
Shalana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shalana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Shalana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shalana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shalana 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Shalana a common name?
We classify Shalana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 574 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shalana most popular?
The single biggest year for Shalana was 1985, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shalana 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 Shalana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 516 people with the name Shalana, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,138 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 Shalana 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 Shalana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shalana appears almost entirely female. Of the 513 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Shalana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shalana is Black at 56.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Shalana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shalana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.0% (289 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 Shalana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shalana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shalana 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 Shalana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shalana 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 Shalana 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 Shalana?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.