Shaniqua

Where Shaniqua comes from

Popularized in the 1970s among African Americans, possibly influenced by Swahili shani (“novelty”) or Welsh Siân (Joanna, "God is gracious"); compare other names starting with Shan- like Shanice, Shanika, Shanita.
— Wiktionary's entry for Shaniqua
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Shaniqua through the years
  1. 1971
    First appearance
    #3,943 among girls with 15 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1991
    Peak, #313
    861 babies named Shaniqua, the most in any year.
  3. 1994
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #789.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name originating as a coinage, of African-American usage.
Namesakes

No widely recognized namesakes for Shaniqua in Wikidata.

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.