Tanna
A feminine name of Scandinavian origin meaning "from the pine woods".
Name Census estimates that about 2,863 living Americans carry the first name Tanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanna today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanna births was 1979 (91 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanna. 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 Tanna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 119,719 Americans
Peak year
1979
91 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2023 SSA rank
#17,352
Tracked since 1943
Census
Tanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,916 people with the first name Tanna, which placed it at #5,738 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
#5,738
National first-name rank
People counted
2.9K
2,916 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanna is White at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Tanna 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 Tanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.1% · 2,276
- Black or African American9.6% · 281
- Two or more races4.6% · 134
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 50
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 45
Popularity
Tanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanna from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 621 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanna 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 Tanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Tanna, while Tennessee, Montana, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanna
The name Tanna has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical language of ancient India. It first emerged around the 5th century BCE, during the Vedic period of Indian history. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "tanu," which means "small" or "thin." It was likely initially used as a descriptive term for a slender or petite individual.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tanna can be found in the Hindu sacred texts known as the Vedas, specifically in the Rigveda, which dates back to around 1500-1000 BCE. In these ancient scriptures, Tanna is mentioned as the name of a minor deity associated with the sun and its rays.
During the medieval period in India, the name Tanna gained popularity among certain Hindu communities, particularly in the northern and central regions of the subcontinent. It was often bestowed upon children as a mark of respect for the ancient Vedic traditions and as a way to invoke blessings of good health and vitality.
One of the earliest historical figures known to bear the name Tanna was Tanna ben Valens, a Jewish scholar and Talmudic authority who lived in the 4th century CE. He was a prominent figure in the Babylonian Jewish community and made significant contributions to the development of Jewish law and tradition.
Another notable figure was Tanna Shan, a Chinese Buddhist monk who lived during the 6th century CE. He is credited with introducing the practice of Buddhism to Japan and is revered as one of the founding fathers of Japanese Buddhism.
In more recent times, the name Tanna has been associated with several influential individuals. Tanna Tuva Novotny was a Swedish actress and model who rose to prominence in the 1990s, known for her roles in films such as "Hollow Man" and "The Banger Sisters."
Tanna Frederick is an American actress and filmmaker, born in 1979, who has starred in numerous independent films and television shows. She is also a philanthropist and founder of the non-profit organization Project Save Our Surf.
Tanna Innē, born in 1992, is a Swedish pop singer and songwriter who has achieved commercial success in her home country and across Scandinavia with her catchy pop tunes and powerful vocals.
While the name Tanna may have its roots in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu traditions, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained recognition across various parts of the world, making it a unique and intriguing choice for a given name.
People
Tanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanna 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
Tanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,863 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanna 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 119,719 US residents.
Is Tanna a common name?
We classify Tanna as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,235 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanna was 1979, when 91 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanna is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,916 people with the name Tanna, or 0.97 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,738 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 Tanna 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 Tanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,916 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Tanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanna is White at 78.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). 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 Tanna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.1% (2,276 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 Tanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanna 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 Tanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanna 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 Tanna 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 Tanna as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.