Shontell
Feminine
Shontell is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 652 girls against 6 boys since 1880.
Shontell is recorded for sons and for daughters, with slightly more sons, and it joins a front and an ending that American naming attaches to almost anything. The ending also spells the name of a Swiss hero whose best-known feat was told about somebody else first.
How old is the name Shontell?
Shontell first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Shontell alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 600 people named Shontell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Shontell most popular?
Shontell peaked in 1972, reaching #2173 nationally. See the whole 1972 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Shontell
The man who shoots an apple off his son's head is not originally Swiss. Saxo Grammaticus tells the story about a Danish marksman called Toko, writing before the earliest Swiss version, and versions turn up in Norse saga, in German and in England; the motif is old and well traveled. The Swiss version attaches it to William Tell, a crossbowman defying a Habsburg bailiff, and makes it the founding scene of a confederation. Whether Tell existed at all has been argued in Switzerland since the eighteenth century, sometimes very heatedly, and no contemporary document mentions him. The play Schiller wrote about him is what fixed the story in Europe, and a national myth that is probably a borrowed folk tale is not less effective for it.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Shon- front and the -tell ending are both free elements in American naming. Neither carries content and no source glosses the combination, though the sound is close to several French words and names.
Pronouncing Shontell
shon-TEL
Two syllables with the stress at the back. The doubled l is decorative; a single one would produce the same sound.
Nicknames for Shontell
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 197738 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2173reached in 1972
- Change vs 2004
- +20.0%6 in 2012, 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.
Shontells among us
people named Shontell 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
Shontell 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
- Back stress gives a two-syllable name a firm landing.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- The spelling is phonetic and survives being heard once.
- Shantell, Chantelle and Shontel will all be written for it.
- It is built from free parts, so the meaning question has a short answer.
- The record holds it for both sexes, so it signals nothing on its own.
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Shontell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Shontells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Shontell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Shontell in 2025?
- Shontell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Shontell with classmates?
- Shontell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Shontell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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