Tamy
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Tamara.
Name Census estimates that about 519 living Americans carry the first name Tamy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamy today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamy births was 1960 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamy. 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
519
~ 1 in 660,413 Americans
Peak year
1960
58 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,640
Tracked since 1957
Census
Tamy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 906 people with the first name Tamy, which placed it at #13,360 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
#13,360
National first-name rank
People counted
906
906 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamy is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Tamy 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 Tamy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.7% · 604
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 117
- Black or African American7.9% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 68
- Two or more races3.0% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 18
Popularity
Tamy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamy from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 282 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamy 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 Tamy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tamys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Tamy, while Pennsylvania, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamy
The name Tamy has its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the word "tamim," which means "perfect" or "complete." This name likely emerged in ancient Israelite culture, possibly during the biblical era.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the word "tamim" is used to describe individuals who were considered upright and blameless in their conduct, such as Noah and Job. It is possible that the name Tamy was given to children with the hope that they would embody these virtuous qualities.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tamy was Tamy ben Micha, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century CE in Provence, France. He was known for his expertise in the Talmud and Jewish law.
In the 16th century, Tamy de la Peña was a Spanish writer and poet from Seville. Her works explored themes of love and spirituality, and she was celebrated for her lyrical and emotive style.
During the 17th century, Tamy Weyden was a Dutch painter known for his landscapes and portraiture. He was a member of the renowned Weyden family of artists and is credited with helping to establish the Dutch Golden Age of painting.
In the 19th century, Tamy Leconte was a French explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in South America, documenting the flora and fauna of the Amazon rainforest. Her detailed observations and specimens contributed significantly to the field of natural history.
Tamy Goldie was a Scottish suffragette and activist in the early 20th century. She played a pivotal role in the campaign for women's right to vote in the United Kingdom and was arrested multiple times for her participation in protests and civil disobedience.
While the name Tamy has Hebrew roots, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and languages over time, making it a name with a rich and diverse history.
People
Tamy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamy 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
Tamy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 519 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamy 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 660,413 US residents.
Is Tamy a common name?
We classify Tamy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamy most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamy was 1960, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamy is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 906 people with the name Tamy, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,360 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 Tamy 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 Tamy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamy leans strongly female. 891 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 17 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Tamy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamy is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Tamy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (604 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 Tamy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamy 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 Tamy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamy 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 Tamy 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 are called Tamy?
You can see how many Americans are named Tamy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.