Shawon
A masculine given name of Arabic origin meaning "moon" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 196 living Americans carry the first name Shawon. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Shawon today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shawon births was 1986 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shawon. 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
196
~ 1 in 1,748,747 Americans
Peak year
1986
17 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2005 SSA rank
#11,866
Tracked since 1970
Census
Shawon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 306 people with the first name Shawon, which placed it at #29,088 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
#29,088
National first-name rank
People counted
306
306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shawon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawon is Black at 57.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%). 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 Shawon 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 Shawon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.2% · 175
- White19.0% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.6% · 54
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 11
- Two or more races2.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Shawon
Shawon leans heavily male at 80.5% of total registrations, but 40 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Shawon as a male name
- Ranked #13,051 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1986 (17 births)
Shawon as a female name
- Ranked #11,866 in 1981
- 5 female births in 1981
- Peak: 1976 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shawon on both sides of the split. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 207 were male (68.3%) and 96 were female (31.7%).
Popularity
Shawon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shawon 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 80 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
Shawon 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 Shawon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shawons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shawon
The name Shawon is believed to have originated from the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the Bengal region. It is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "Shawan," which means "born under the auspicious influence of the planet Saturn."
In ancient Hindu astrology and mythology, Saturn was considered a significant celestial body, and names associated with it were believed to bring good fortune and prosperity. The name Shawon was commonly given to children born when the planet Saturn was in a favorable position or during certain astrological periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Shawon can be found in ancient Bengali literature and texts dating back to the 16th century. During this time, the region was under the rule of the Mughal Empire, and the name was popularized among both Hindu and Muslim communities.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Shawon. One of the earliest known was Shawon Khan, a prominent Bengali military commander who lived in the 17th century and served under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Another noteworthy figure was Shawon Chowdhury, a Bengali poet and scholar from the 18th century, renowned for his contributions to Bengali literature.
In the 19th century, Shawon Singha was a prominent Bengali writer and social reformer who advocated for women's education and the abolition of the caste system. His works had a significant influence on the Bengal Renaissance movement.
Moving into the 20th century, Shawon Gayen was a renowned Bengali folk singer and musician, celebrated for his contributions to the preservation and promotion of traditional Bengali folk music.
More recently, Shawon Mahmud, born in 1988, is a Bangladeshi cricketer who has represented his national team in both Test and One Day International matches, and is known for his skilled batting and fielding abilities.
While the name Shawon has its roots in the Indian subcontinent, it has gained popularity in other parts of the world as well, particularly among Bengali diaspora communities. However, its historical significance and cultural connections remain deeply rooted in the region's rich heritage and traditions.
People
Shawon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shawon 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
Shawon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shawon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 196 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shawon 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 1,748,747 US residents.
Is Shawon a common name?
We classify Shawon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 205 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shawon most popular?
The single biggest year for Shawon was 1986, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shawon is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shawon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 306 people with the name Shawon, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,088 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 Shawon 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 Shawon?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shawon on both sides of the split. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 207 were male (68.3%) and 96 were female (31.7%). 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 Shawon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shawon is Black at 57.2%. The next largest groups are White (19.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.6%). 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 Shawon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shawon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.2% (175 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 Shawon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shawon a male name?
Yes, 80.5% of people registered as Shawon in the SSA data are male. 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 Shawon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shawon 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 Shawon 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 Shawon?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.