Tanaisha
A feminine name of Native American origin meaning "child of happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 228 living Americans carry the first name Tanaisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanaisha today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanaisha births was 1993 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanaisha. 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
228
~ 1 in 1,503,309 Americans
Peak year
1993
21 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2008 SSA rank
#17,290
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tanaisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Tanaisha, which placed it at #38,638 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
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanaisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanaisha is Black at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and White (3.5%). 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 Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.8% · 164
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 16
- White3.5% · 7
- Two or more races3.0% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 5
Popularity
Tanaisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanaisha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 141 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Tanaisha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tanaishas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanaisha
The name Tanaisha is believed to have its origins in the Swahili language, which is spoken primarily in East Africa. It is a combination of two Swahili words, "tani" meaning "rich" or "wealthy" and "isha" meaning "life" or "existence." Thus, the name can be interpreted as "rich life" or "prosperous existence."
In Swahili culture, names often carry deep meaning and significance, reflecting the hopes and aspirations of parents for their children's lives. The name Tanaisha may have been given to express the desire for the child to lead a prosperous and fulfilling life.
While the exact origins of the name are not well-documented, it is believed to have been in use among the Swahili-speaking communities in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda for several centuries. However, it was not until the late 20th century that the name gained wider recognition and popularity beyond these regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tanaisha can be found in the novel "Petals of Blood" by the renowned Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o, published in 1977. In the book, Tanaisha is the name of a character, suggesting that the name was in use among the Swahili-speaking communities in Kenya at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tanaisha:
1. Tanaisha Wright (born 1977), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for teams like the Houston Comets and the Cleveland Rockers.
2. Tanaisha Gathers (born 1992), an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Atlanta Dream in the WNBA.
3. Tanaisha Robinson (born 1987), an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Tasha Steelz, who has competed in various promotions, including Impact Wrestling.
4. Tanaisha Browning (born 1988), an American sprinter who represented the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
5. Tanaisha Lewis (born 1975), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for teams like the Houston Comets and the Miami Sol.
While the name Tanaisha has its roots in the Swahili language and culture, it has gained popularity globally, particularly in the United States, where it is often given to children of various cultural backgrounds, reflecting the rich diversity of the country.
People
Tanaisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanaisha 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
Tanaisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanaisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanaisha 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 1,503,309 US residents.
Is Tanaisha a common name?
We classify Tanaisha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanaisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanaisha was 1993, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanaisha is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanaisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Tanaisha, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 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 Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanaisha leans strongly female. 196 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Tanaisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanaisha is Black at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.1%) and White (3.5%). 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 Tanaisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tanaisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.8% (164 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 Tanaisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanaisha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha 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 Tanaisha as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Tanaisha on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.