LaShawn is a 20th-century African American name combining the prefix *La-* with Shawn (from the Irish Seán / Hebrew *Yochanan*, "God is gracious"). **A top-500 US baby name (girls) from 1972 to 1992**. **LaShawn Merritt (born 1986)** — **American sprinter; **Olympic gold medalist (Beijing 2008, 400m); 2008 World Champion**; 2009 World Championship gold (400m); 2013 World silver; one of the most-decorated American 400m runners of the 21st century**; helped Team USA win 4x400m relay gold at the 2012 London Olympics. **LaShawn Daniels (1977-2019)** — American Grammy-winning songwriter; co-wrote Destiny's Child's "Say My Name" (Grammy for Best R&B Song 2001) and Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right but It's Okay" (Grammy 2000); collaborator with Beyoncé, Brandy, Toni Braxton, and Lady Gaga. **LaShawn Ford** — Illinois state representative. **LaShawn Daniels** — credited on more than 100 platinum records. **The name LaShawn — alongside Latoya, Lakeisha, Latasha, and Latonya — emerged from the 1970s post-Civil-Rights movement among African American families to create distinctive names that fused European-derived bases with West African phonetic patterns; the *La-* prefix evokes the Yoruba and Akan honorific structures**. **LaShawn Merritt** is unisex but predominantly feminine in 1980s-90s US naming.
Featured throughout late-20th-century African American culture and Olympic sports.
LaShawn reduces to three — the number of "Say My Name."