Tanjala
A name of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly derived from Tamil.
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Tanjala. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanjala today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanjala births was 1975 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanjala. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tanjala. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1975
8 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1975 SSA rank
#7,076
Tracked since 1966
Popularity
Tanjala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanjala from the 1960s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 13 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanjala 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 Tanjala 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 Tanjala
The name Tanjala is of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit language. It is believed to have originated around the 5th century BCE, during the Vedic period in ancient India.
The name Tanjala is a combination of two Sanskrit words - "tanj" meaning "to dance" and "ala" meaning "beautiful" or "graceful." Together, the name can be interpreted as "the beautiful dancer" or "the graceful one who dances."
Early references to the name Tanjala can be found in Hindu sacred texts, such as the Puranas, which contain stories and legends related to various deities and historical figures. In some of these texts, Tanjala is mentioned as a celestial dancer or an attendant of a goddess.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Tanjala was a renowned classical dancer who lived in the 7th century CE during the Pallava dynasty in South India. She was known for her mastery of the Bharatanatyam dance form and was a celebrated performer at the royal court.
Another notable figure named Tanjala was a 12th-century Sanskrit scholar and poet from the Kakatiya kingdom in present-day Telangana, India. She authored several works on grammar, poetry, and philosophy, and her contributions to the field of literature were widely recognized.
In the 16th century, there was a Tanjala who served as a minister and advisor to the Vijayanagar Empire in South India. She was known for her diplomatic skills and was instrumental in maintaining peaceful relations with neighboring kingdoms.
During the 18th century, a Tanjala was a renowned Odissi dancer from the state of Odisha in Eastern India. She was celebrated for her graceful movements and her ability to convey complex emotions through her dance performances.
In more recent times, Tanjala Naidoo, a South African author and activist born in 1976, has gained recognition for her work on social justice issues and her efforts to promote cultural diversity through her writing.
While the name Tanjala is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of India's rich cultural heritage, reflecting the country's deep-rooted traditions in dance, literature, and the arts.
People
Tanjala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanjala 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
Tanjala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanjala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanjala 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Tanjala a common name?
We classify Tanjala as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanjala most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanjala was 1975, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanjala is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tanjala a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanjala 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.
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.