Tamilla
A feminine Persian name meaning "gentle" or "mild".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Tamilla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamilla today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamilla births was 1970 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamilla. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tamilla. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1970
7 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1987 SSA rank
#13,054
Tracked since 1967
Census
Tamilla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 151 people with the first name Tamilla, which placed it at #45,179 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#45,179
National first-name rank
People counted
151
151 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamilla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamilla is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tamilla described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tamilla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.0% · 86
- Black or African American33.1% · 50
- Two or more races6.6% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 2
Popularity
Tamilla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamilla from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 7 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Tamilla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamilla by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tamilla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamilla
The name Tamilla has its origins in the Persian language and culture. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in Persia, which is now modern-day Iran. Tamilla is derived from the Persian word "tam," meaning "peace" or "calm," and the suffix "-illa," which is a diminutive form indicating smallness or endearment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tamilla can be found in the ancient Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. In this literary masterpiece, Tamilla is mentioned as the name of a beautiful and virtuous character.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Tamilla. One such figure was Tamilla Agha (c. 1520-1585), a Persian princess and the daughter of Shah Tahmasp I of the Safavid dynasty. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her efforts in promoting cultural exchange between Persia and neighboring regions.
Another prominent figure with the name Tamilla was Tamilla Kuzminskaya (1892-1975), a Russian-born prima ballerina who achieved great acclaim for her performances with the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She was celebrated for her technical mastery and artistic expression on stage.
In the realm of literature, Tamilla Nurullina (1913-1989) was a renowned Tatar writer and poet from the Soviet Union. Her works, which often explored themes of national identity and the experience of women, earned her numerous awards and accolades during her lifetime.
Moving to more recent times, Tamilla Khadzhi (born 1979) is a Russian-born artist and sculptor based in New York City. Her unique and thought-provoking installations, which often incorporate elements of nature and address environmental issues, have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
Lastly, Tamilla Nurmieva (born 1985) is a professional tennis player from Kazakhstan. She has achieved notable success on the WTA Tour, winning several doubles titles and reaching a career-high ranking in the top 50 in both singles and doubles.
While the name Tamilla may not be as widely used today as it once was, its rich history and cultural significance serve as a testament to the enduring legacy of Persian language and culture.
People
Tamilla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamilla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tamilla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamilla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamilla going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Tamilla a common name?
We classify Tamilla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamilla most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamilla was 1970, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamilla is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamilla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 151 people with the name Tamilla, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,179 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tamilla in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tamilla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamilla appears almost entirely female. Of the 150 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tamilla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamilla is White at 57.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tamilla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamilla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (86 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tamilla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamilla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamilla in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tamilla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamilla in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tamilla can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Tamilla?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.