Shauntel
Feminine
Shauntel is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 913 girls against 10 boys since 1880.
Shauntel looks like two names joined and is not. Everything in it comes from one French name, respelled by ear — which is why the resemblance to an Irish name at the front is entirely accidental.
How old is the name Shauntel?
Shauntel first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Shauntel alive today was born around 1986, making them about 39 years old. About 900 people named Shauntel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shauntel most popular?
Shauntel peaked in 1983, reaching #2272 nationally. See the whole 1983 chart.
Where it comes from
From Chantal to Shauntel
Our story of Shauntel
The front of this name is the accident. Written this way, it looks like the Shaun of Irish naming — and it is not, and no part of its history touches Ireland. What happened is simpler: an English speaker heard the French name, which begins with a sh sound, and reached for the spelling of that sound most familiar in American names. The ending did the same work from the other direction. French writes the ending -elle, with a doubled l and a silent e, and both of those letters are invisible in speech; an American respelling keeps the sound and drops the decoration, arriving at -el. So the name is a French name written twice through an English ear, and the two pieces that look borrowed from elsewhere were never borrowed at all.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name behind it is Chantal, which comes from a place in southern France and means stony ground rather than anything about singing. The reading of song, offered almost universally, is a false etymology produced by the French word chanter. This spelling carries neither, being a phonetic respelling of the sound alone.
How the name formed
- Chantal
- Chantelle
- Shauntel
Related forms: Chantal
Pronouncing Shauntel
shawn-TEL
Two syllables with the stress at the back, exactly as the French name. The ending is said tell, not tale.
Nicknames for Shauntel
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1968
- Most girls named
- 198342 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2272reached in 1983
- Change vs 2007
- 0.0%5 in 2015, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Shauntel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chantal in French — related form
Shauntels among us
people named Shauntel are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Shauntel sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The back stress gives it a strong finish and protects it from being clipped.
- The spelling is phonetic, so it is read correctly cold.
- It is rare in the record while sounding completely familiar.
- Chantelle, Shantel and Shantell are all in use and hers will be written as one of them.
- The spelling is recorded for a few boys, but nearly every child with it is a girl.
- The song meaning she will be given is a false etymology, and the real one is about stony ground.
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Shauntel
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shauntels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Shauntel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shauntel in 2025?
- Shauntel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shauntel with classmates?
- Shauntel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shauntel? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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