Shaniqua

//ʃəˈniːkwə// name, noun, slang

name, noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A stereotypical African-American woman. derogatory, ethnic, often, slang, slur

    "Maybe he should have started a while ago and upstaged actors for their menacing portrayal of the Shaniquas and the Sha-nay-nays on television."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A female given name originating as a coinage, of African-American usage.

    "Thirty-one Sam Houston Elementary School students Thursday morning were presented good citizens awards during an awards day program helt at the school auditorium. The awards presented to the students according to grades by Albert Sanders, Corsicana Independent School District Board of trustee, included: Kindergarten: Billy Stephens, Shaniqua McDonald and Melisa Williams, [...]."

Example

More examples

"Thirty-one Sam Houston Elementary School students Thursday morning were presented good citizens awards during an awards day program helt at the school auditorium. The awards presented to the students according to grades by Albert Sanders, Corsicana Independent School District Board of trustee, included: Kindergarten: Billy Stephens, Shaniqua McDonald and Melisa Williams, [...]."

Etymology

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.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.