Tansy
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "immortal".
Name Census estimates that about 340 living Americans carry the first name Tansy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tansy today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tansy births was 1981 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tansy. 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 Tansy with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
340
~ 1 in 1,008,101 Americans
Peak year
1981
14 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,007
Tracked since 1920
Census
Tansy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 402 people with the first name Tansy, which placed it at #24,093 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
#24,093
National first-name rank
People counted
402
402 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tansy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tansy is White at 64.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%). 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 Tansy 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 Tansy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.7% · 260
- Black or African American14.4% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.7% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 22
- Two or more races5.5% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Tansy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tansy from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Tansy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tansy 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 Tansy 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 Tansy
The name Tansy has its origins in the Greek word 'athanasia', meaning 'immortality'. It was derived from the ancient Greek name Athanasia, which was originally used as a nickname for the herb tansy, prized for its medicinal properties and believed to confer longevity.
In the Middle Ages, the name Tansy emerged as a distinctive given name in various parts of Europe, particularly in England and France. It was often associated with the tansy plant, which had symbolic significance in medieval herbalism and folklore.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tansy can be found in the 13th-century French text "Roman de la Rose," where a character named Tansy is mentioned. This literary reference suggests that the name was in use during that period.
In the 16th century, Tansy appeared as a character in the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare. This literary reference further solidified the name's presence in English culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tansy. One of the earliest recorded was Tansy Muschamp (1290-1352), an English noblewoman known for her philanthropy and patronage of the arts.
Another notable Tansy was Tansy Vorontsova (1537-1596), a Russian courtier and confidante of Ivan the Terrible. She played a significant role in the political intrigues of the Muscovite court during the 16th century.
In the 18th century, Tansy Browne (1698-1771) was an English writer and poet who gained recognition for her satirical works and her contributions to the literary circles of her time.
The 19th century saw the rise of Tansy Austen (1820-1892), a British artist and illustrator known for her botanical illustrations and her work in promoting the education of women in the arts.
In more recent times, Tansy Rayner Roberts (born 1980) is an Australian writer and editor who has made significant contributions to the fantasy and speculative fiction genres, earning critical acclaim for her novels and short stories.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Tansy throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and disciplines.
People
Tansy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tansy 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
Tansy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tansy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 340 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tansy 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 1,008,101 US residents.
Is Tansy a common name?
We classify Tansy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 375 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tansy most popular?
The single biggest year for Tansy was 1981, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tansy is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tansy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 402 people with the name Tansy, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,093 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 Tansy 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 Tansy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tansy leans strongly female. 393 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Tansy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tansy is White at 64.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.7%). 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 Tansy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tansy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.7% (260 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 Tansy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tansy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tansy 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 Tansy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tansy 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 Tansy 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 Tansy as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Tansy on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.