Tanieka
A feminine name of African origin meaning "the mother of all".
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Tanieka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanieka today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanieka births was 1979 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanieka. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
1979
13 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
1996 SSA rank
#13,333
Tracked since 1975
Census
Tanieka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 140 people with the first name Tanieka, which placed it at #47,034 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
#47,034
National first-name rank
People counted
140
140 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanieka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanieka is Black at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Tanieka 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 Tanieka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.1% · 115
- White7.1% · 10
- Two or more races6.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Tanieka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanieka from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 60 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Tanieka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanieka 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 Tanieka 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 Tanieka
The name Tanieka is believed to have its origins in the African languages of the Bantu group, which are spoken across a vast region of Central and Southern Africa. It is thought to be a variant spelling or combination of the names Tania and Eka, both of which have roots in these indigenous African tongues.
Tania is a Russian diminutive form of the name Tatiana, which itself is derived from the ancient Roman name Tatius. Eka, on the other hand, is a name of West African origin, particularly among the Yoruba people of Nigeria. When combined, Tanieka may have been an attempt to create a unique and culturally blended name.
While the name Tanieka does not appear to have any direct associations with ancient texts or religious scriptures, its African roots suggest a connection to the rich oral traditions and storytelling cultures of the continent. It is possible that the name was used in various African communities long before being recorded in written form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tanieka can be found in the 1930s, when it began to appear in birth records and census data in various African countries, as well as among African diaspora communities in the Americas. However, it was not until the latter half of the 20th century that the name gained broader popularity.
Among notable individuals who have borne the name Tanieka throughout history are:
1. Tanieka Colson-Thomas (born 1981), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA.
2. Tanieka Call (born 1984), an American singer and songwriter best known for her work in the Christian music genre.
3. Tanieka Sampson (born 1987), a Jamaican sprinter who specializes in the 400 meters and has represented her country in international competitions.
4. Tanieka Stevenson (born 1991), a Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
5. Tanieka Colson-Yelder (born 1979), an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA and overseas leagues.
While the name Tanieka may have originated as a blending of African and European influences, it has since taken on its own unique identity and has been embraced by individuals and communities around the world.
People
Tanieka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanieka 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
Tanieka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanieka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanieka 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Tanieka a common name?
We classify Tanieka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 146 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanieka most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanieka was 1979, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanieka is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanieka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 140 people with the name Tanieka, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,034 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 Tanieka 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 Tanieka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanieka leans strongly female. 140 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 5 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Tanieka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanieka is Black at 82.1%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Tanieka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tanieka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.1% (115 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 Tanieka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanieka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanieka 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 Tanieka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanieka 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 Tanieka 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 Tanieka?
Find out how many Americans are named Tanieka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.