Tamme
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "perfect" or "complete".
Name Census estimates that about 219 living Americans carry the first name Tamme. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamme today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamme births was 1961 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamme. 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.
People living today
219
~ 1 in 1,565,088 Americans
Peak year
1961
26 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1976 SSA rank
#9,130
Tracked since 1957
Census
Tamme in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 292 people with the first name Tamme, which placed it at #30,039 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
#30,039
National first-name rank
People counted
292
292 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamme
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamme is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tamme 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 Tamme at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 238
- Black or African American9.2% · 27
- Two or more races6.2% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Tamme: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamme from the 1950s through to the 1970s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 159 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Tamme remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamme 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 Tamme 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 Tamme
The given name Tamme has its roots in the Estonian language, originating in the Baltic region. The name is believed to be derived from the Old Estonian word "tamm," which translates to "oak tree." This connection to nature and the sturdy oak symbolizes strength, resilience, and endurance.
In Estonia, the name Tamme has been in use since medieval times, with records dating back to the 13th century. It was a common name among the Estonian peasantry and working class, reflecting their close ties to the land and the natural environment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tamme can be found in the Liber Census Daniae, a Danish census from the late 13th century. This document listed several individuals with the name, including Tamme de Revalia, who was a merchant from the city of Tallinn (then known as Reval).
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Tamme. One of the most prominent was Tamme Vähi (1536-1603), a renowned Estonian folk hero and rebel leader who led an uprising against the Danish overlords in the late 16th century. His defiant stance against oppression and his fight for Estonian independence have made him a revered figure in the country's history.
Another influential individual with the name Tamme was Tamme Luik (1892-1969), an Estonian writer and poet who played a significant role in the Estonian literary scene during the early 20th century. His works, which often explored themes of nature and rural life, were celebrated for their lyrical beauty and vivid imagery.
In the field of art, Tamme Konsa (1872-1939) was an esteemed Estonian painter known for his landscape and genre paintings. His works often depicted scenes from rural Estonia, capturing the essence of the country's natural beauty and traditional way of life.
Moving to a more modern era, Tamme Paju (1918-1990) was a renowned Estonian architect who made significant contributions to the country's post-war reconstruction efforts. His designs, which combined modernist elements with traditional Estonian architectural motifs, left a lasting impact on the urban landscape of several Estonian cities.
While these are just a few examples, the name Tamme has been carried by many notable individuals throughout Estonian history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of the nation.
People
Tamme + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamme 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
Tamme: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamme?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 219 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamme 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 1,565,088 US residents.
Is Tamme a common name?
We classify Tamme as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 267 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamme most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamme was 1961, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamme is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamme in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 292 people with the name Tamme, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,039 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 Tamme 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 Tamme?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamme leans strongly female. 293 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Tamme?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamme is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.2%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tamme most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamme in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (238 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 Tamme in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamme a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamme 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 Tamme still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamme 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 Tamme 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 people have the name Tamme?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.