Shondell
A feminine given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 462 living Americans carry the first name Shondell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Shondell today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Shondell births was 1973 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Shondell. 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
462
~ 1 in 741,893 Americans
Peak year
1973
55 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2008 SSA rank
#11,626
Tracked since 1968
Census
Shondell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 569 people with the first name Shondell, which placed it at #18,829 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
#18,829
National first-name rank
People counted
569
569 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Shondell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shondell is Black at 77.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Shondell 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 Shondell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.2% · 439
- White12.5% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 22
- Two or more races3.3% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Shondell
Shondell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 499 total registrations, 262 (52.5%) were male and 237 (47.5%) were female.
Shondell as a male name
- Ranked #14,297 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1976 (26 births)
Shondell as a female name
- Ranked #11,626 in 1993
- 7 female births in 1993
- Peak: 1973 (36 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shondell on both sides of the split. Of the 568 people counted with this name, 253 were male (44.5%) and 315 were female (55.5%).
Popularity
Shondell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Shondell from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 305 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
Shondell 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 Shondell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Shondells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Shondell
The name Shondell is thought to have originated from a combination of the English names Shona and Nell. The name Shona is derived from the Old English word "scinan," meaning "to shine," while Nell is a diminutive form of the name Eleanor, which comes from the Old French "Aelenor" and ultimately from the Germanic elements "adi" (nobility) and "lind" (soft, tender).
Shondell is a relatively modern name, and there are no records of it being used in ancient texts or religious scriptures. The earliest known use of the name dates back to the late 19th century, when it began appearing in birth records in parts of the United States and Canada.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Shondell was Shondell Stevenson, an American actress born in 1923. She had a brief career in Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, appearing in films such as "The Falcon in Mexico" (1944) and "The Untamed Breed" (1948).
Another notable figure named Shondell was Shondell Avery, an American civil rights activist born in 1935. She was involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the 1960s and played a crucial role in the Freedom Rides and voter registration campaigns in the South.
In the world of literature, Shondell Olsen is a Canadian author born in 1948. She has written several books for children and young adults, including the award-winning novel "Salt Trilogy" (1999-2001).
The name Shondell has also been used in the field of music. Shondell Barr, an American singer born in 1950, was a member of the popular R&B group The Emotions in the 1970s and 1980s.
Finally, Shondell Richardson is a contemporary American artist born in 1963. She is known for her intricate collages and mixed media works that explore themes of identity, memory, and cultural heritage.
While not a particularly common name, Shondell has been used by individuals from various backgrounds and professions throughout the past century, each leaving their unique mark on history.
People
Shondell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Shondell 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
Shondell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Shondell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 462 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Shondell 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 741,893 US residents.
Is Shondell a common name?
We classify Shondell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 499 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Shondell most popular?
The single biggest year for Shondell was 1973, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Shondell is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Shondell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 569 people with the name Shondell, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,829 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 Shondell 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 Shondell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Shondell on both sides of the split. Of the 568 people counted with this name, 253 were male (44.5%) and 315 were female (55.5%). 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 Shondell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Shondell is Black at 77.2%. The next largest groups are White (12.5%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Shondell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Shondell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (439 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 Shondell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Shondell a male name?
Yes, 52.5% of people registered as Shondell 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 Shondell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Shondell 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 Shondell 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 Shondell?
You can see how many people have the name Shondell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.