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Shawntell
How to Pronounce Shawntell
Pronounced shawn-TEL /ʃɔːnˈtɛl/High
Meaning: Shawntell respells Chantel phonetically, opening it with Shawn- and closing with -tell. Chantel comes from Chantal, originally a French surname and place name in the Auvergne meaning roughly 'stony ground', which was later popularly reinterpreted through the French verb chanter, 'to sing'. The name entered American use widely, and Shawntell reflects how it sounds to an English ear.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Shawntell is one of many English respellings of Chantel, the French name popularized in part by devotion to Saint Jane Frances de Chantal. Chantal was first a surname drawn from a place in the Auvergne region, and only later did its sound draw it toward the French word for singing. In the United States the name and its variants became especially popular among African American families in the 1960s and '70s. Shawntell writes the name the way it is heard, with a clear Shawn beginning.
This spelling stayed modest. Only a few dozen girls a year were given Shawntell around its mid-1970s peak, and it lingered thinly into the 2000s. A girl named Shawntell then would be in her early fifties now. It sits within a broad family of Chantel spellings, and while the name itself remains recognizable, this particular version reads as one personal choice among many.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Shawntell mean?
Shawntell is a respelled form of Chantel, a French name later associated with the word for 'to sing'.
How do you pronounce Shawntell?
It is said shawn-TEL /ʃɔːnˈtɛl/ - two syllables, stress on the second.
Is Shawntell a boy or girl name?
Shawntell is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Shawntell?
Shawntell has always been uncommon, one of many spellings of the more familiar Chantel.