Taniela
A Tongan masculine name meaning "a rejoicing, an honor".
Name Census estimates that about 138 living Americans carry the first name Taniela. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Taniela today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taniela births was 2014 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taniela. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Taniela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
138
~ 1 in 2,483,727 Americans
Peak year
2014
12 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,834
Tracked since 1989
Census
Taniela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 246 people with the first name Taniela, which placed it at #33,566 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
#33,566
National first-name rank
People counted
246
246 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
83.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taniela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taniela is Asian/Pacific Islander at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Taniela 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 Taniela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander83.3% · 205
- Two or more races9.3% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 10
- White2.4% · 6
- Black or African American0.8% · 2
Popularity
Taniela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taniela from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 48 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Taniela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taniela 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 Taniela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tanielas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taniela
The given name Taniela has its origins in the Samoan language and culture. It is a masculine name that is derived from the word "tanielā," which means "tānie" (to wander) and "lā" (day or sun). The name is believed to have emerged in the early 19th century, during the period when Samoa was first being explored by European explorers and missionaries.
Taniela is a variation of the biblical name Daniel, which is derived from the Hebrew name "Daniyyel," meaning "God is my judge." The Samoan version of the name was likely influenced by the introduction of Christianity to the islands by Christian missionaries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Taniela can be found in the work of George Pratt, an English missionary who arrived in Samoa in 1838. In his writings, Pratt mentions several Samoan individuals with the name Taniela, indicating that the name was already in use among the local population.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Taniela. One of the most famous was Taniela Ioane (1879-1944), a Samoan chief and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council of Samoa during the period of New Zealand administration.
Another prominent individual was Taniela Tuiā'ana (1888-1956), a Samoan pastor and educator who played a significant role in promoting education and literacy in Samoa. He was also involved in the translation of the Bible into the Samoan language.
Taniela Tupuola (1900-1986) was a Samoan politician and paramount chief who served as the Prime Minister of Samoa from 1976 to 1982. He was instrumental in guiding Samoa's transition to independence from New Zealand in 1962.
In the literary world, Taniela Sāmauū (1920-1996) was a renowned Samoan poet and writer who made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Samoan language and culture through his works.
Taniela Fetū'u (1945-2021) was a Samoan rugby union player who represented Samoa at the international level and played for several clubs in New Zealand and France during his career.
These individuals, among others, have helped to keep the name Taniela prominent and celebrated throughout Samoan history and culture.
People
Taniela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taniela 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
Taniela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taniela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 138 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taniela 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 2,483,727 US residents.
Is Taniela a common name?
We classify Taniela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 140 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taniela most popular?
The single biggest year for Taniela was 2014, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taniela is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taniela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 246 people with the name Taniela, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,566 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 Taniela 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 Taniela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taniela leans strongly male. 237 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 12 female bearers (4.8%). 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 Taniela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taniela is Asian/Pacific Islander at 83.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (9.3%) and Hispanic (4.1%). 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 Taniela most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Taniela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.3% (205 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 Taniela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taniela a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taniela in the SSA data are male. 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 Taniela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taniela 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 Taniela 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 share the name Taniela?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.