Shenita
A unique feminine name possibly derived from the English word "sheeny" meaning brightness or brilliance.
Name Census estimates that about 1,404 living Americans carry the first name Shenita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Shenita today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shenita births was 1978 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shenita. 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 244,127 Americans
Peak year
1978
85 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2000 SSA rank
#17,210
Tracked since 1954
Census
Shenita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,222 people with the first name Shenita, which placed it at #10,756 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
#10,756
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,222 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shenita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shenita is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.1%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Shenita 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 Shenita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.7% · 1,157
- Two or more races2.1% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 17
- White1.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Shenita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shenita from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 603 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Shenita 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 Shenita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shenitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Shenita, while Ohio, New York, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Shenita
The given name Shenita is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language. It is derived from the Hebrew name Shulamit, which means "peaceful" or "perfect." The earliest recorded use of the name Shenita dates back to the late 20th century, primarily in the United States.
While the name Shenita itself does not appear in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its root name Shulamit is mentioned in the Song of Songs, a book from the Hebrew Bible. In the text, Shulamit is portrayed as a beautiful and virtuous woman, symbolizing the love between God and His people.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Shenita was Shenita Ettienne, a Haitian-American writer and poet born in 1972. Her works often explored themes of identity, spirituality, and the African diaspora experience.
Another notable figure was Shenita Landry, an American basketball player who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1998 to 2004. She was a part of the inaugural WNBA season and played for teams like the Utah Starzz and the Los Angeles Sparks.
In the realm of politics, Shenita Etwaroo was a Guyanese-American politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly from 2015 to 2021, representing the 31st district. She was known for her advocacy on issues related to education and healthcare.
Shenita Berry is a contemporary American author and motivational speaker. Her book "Shenita's Journey: From Heartbreak to Wholeness" chronicles her personal struggles and journey towards self-discovery and healing.
Lastly, Shenita Jones is an American gospel singer and songwriter. She has released several albums since the early 2000s and has been nominated for various awards in the gospel music genre.
People
Shenita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shenita 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
Shenita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shenita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,404 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shenita 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 244,127 US residents.
Is Shenita a common name?
We classify Shenita as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,550 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shenita most popular?
The single biggest year for Shenita was 1978, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shenita is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shenita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,222 people with the name Shenita, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,756 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 Shenita 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 Shenita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Shenita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,219 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Shenita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shenita is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.1%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Shenita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shenita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (1,157 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 Shenita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shenita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Shenita 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 Shenita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shenita 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 Shenita 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 Shenita?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.