Shawnte
A feminine name derived from the name Shante, meaning "she walks with pride".
Name Census estimates that about 1,390 living Americans carry the first name Shawnte. It is a predominantly female name (93.1% of registrations). The average person named Shawnte today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawnte births was 1977 (215 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawnte. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 246,586 Americans
Peak year
1977
215 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1989 SSA rank
#7,761
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shawnte in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,177 people with the first name Shawnte, which placed it at #11,049 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
#11,049
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawnte
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnte is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Shawnte 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 Shawnte at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.8% · 880
- White10.2% · 120
- Two or more races7.6% · 89
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawnte
Shawnte leans heavily female at 93.1% of total registrations, but 102 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shawnte as a male name
- Ranked #7,761 in 1989
- 6 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1978 (20 births)
Shawnte as a female name
- Ranked #20,103 in 2007
- 5 female births in 2007
- Peak: 1977 (207 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnte leans strongly female. 1,090 people counted with this name were female (92.5%), compared with 88 male bearers (7.5%).
Popularity
Shawnte: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawnte 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 603 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
Shawnte 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 Shawnte during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawntes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Ohio, New York recorded the most babies named Shawnte, while New Jersey, North Carolina, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawnte
The given name Shawnte is a modern English variant that emerged in the 20th century. Its origins can be traced back to the French name Sainte, which is the feminine form of Saint, meaning "holy" or "sacred." The name Sainte itself has its roots in the Latin word "sanctus," which carries the same meaning.
Shawnte's linguistic journey likely began with the French name Sainte being anglicized to Sante or Shante upon its introduction to English-speaking regions. Over time, the spelling evolved further, leading to variations like Shawnte. This name's evolution is a testament to the fluidity of language and the influence of cultural exchanges on naming traditions.
While Shawnte does not have direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the concept of holiness or sanctity may have held significance in certain contexts. The earliest recorded examples of the name Shawnte itself are relatively recent, reflecting its modern origins.
Among the notable individuals who have borne the name Shawnte throughout history, one can mention:
1. Shawnte Jenkins (born 1987), an American professional basketball player.
2. Shawnte Hawkins (born 1978), an American former professional basketball player.
3. Shawnte Goff (born 1982), an American former collegiate basketball player.
4. Shawnte Jones (born 1988), an American former collegiate basketball player.
5. Shawnte Zellers (born 1983), an American former collegiate basketball player.
While these individuals may not be widely recognized historical figures, their presence demonstrates the usage and popularity of the name Shawnte in contemporary times, particularly within certain communities and cultural contexts.
People
Shawnte + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawnte 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
Shawnte: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawnte?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,390 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawnte 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 246,586 US residents.
Is Shawnte a common name?
We classify Shawnte as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,487 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawnte most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawnte was 1977, when 215 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawnte is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawnte in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,177 people with the name Shawnte, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,049 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 Shawnte 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 Shawnte?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shawnte leans strongly female. 1,090 people counted with this name were female (92.5%), compared with 88 male bearers (7.5%). 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 Shawnte?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawnte is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Two or More Races (7.6%). 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 Shawnte most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawnte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (880 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 Shawnte in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawnte a female name?
Yes, 93.1% of people registered as Shawnte 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 Shawnte still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawnte 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 Shawnte 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 Shawnte?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.