Tanush
A masculine Hindu name meaning "thin and handsome".
Name Census estimates that about 476 living Americans carry the first name Tanush. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tanush today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanush births was 2008 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanush. 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 Tanush with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
476
~ 1 in 720,072 Americans
Peak year
2008
39 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,534
Tracked since 2003
Census
Tanush in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 417 people with the first name Tanush, which placed it at #23,447 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
#23,447
National first-name rank
People counted
417
417 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanush
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%). 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 Tanush 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 Tanush at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.7% · 399
- White1.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 6
- Two or more races1.0% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Tanush: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanush from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 220 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tanush remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanush 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 Tanush during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tanushs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Tanush, while New Jersey, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanush
The name Tanush is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, with roots tracing back to ancient India. The earliest recorded instances of this name can be found in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was used as a name for male children.
One of the earliest known references to the name Tanush can be found in the Mahabharata, an epic Sanskrit poem composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE. In this text, Tanush is mentioned as the name of a warrior prince, though little else is known about his historical significance.
The name Tanush is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "tanush," which means "body" or "form." This connection suggests that the name may have been given to children with the intention of bestowing upon them a strong, healthy physique or a well-formed appearance.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tanush. One of the earliest recorded figures was Tanush Khurana, a Hindu scholar and poet who lived in the 12th century CE. His works, primarily focused on spiritual and philosophical themes, were highly regarded during his lifetime and continue to be studied today.
Another notable figure was Tanush Aggarwal, a 16th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer. Aggarwal made significant contributions to the field of trigonometry and is credited with developing advanced techniques for calculating the positions of celestial bodies.
In more recent times, Tanush Chandra was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and political activist who played a crucial role in India's struggle for independence from British rule in the early 20th century. Born in 1888, Chandra was a staunch advocate for non-violent resistance and worked closely with Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement.
Another significant figure was Tanush Mukherjee, an acclaimed Indian artist and sculptor who lived from 1914 to 1988. Mukherjee's works, which often depicted scenes from everyday Indian life, were celebrated for their intricate details and vibrant colors. Many of his sculptures and paintings are now housed in prestigious museums and galleries around the world.
Lastly, Tanush Bedi was a highly respected Indian jurist and legal scholar who served as a judge on the Supreme Court of India from 1972 to 1984. Bedi's legal opinions and writings were widely influential, and he was known for his unwavering commitment to upholding the principles of justice and the rule of law.
People
Tanush + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanush 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
Tanush: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanush?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 476 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanush 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 720,072 US residents.
Is Tanush a common name?
We classify Tanush as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 480 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanush most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanush was 2008, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanush is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanush in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 417 people with the name Tanush, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,447 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 Tanush 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 Tanush?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanush appears almost entirely male. Of the 416 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Tanush?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanush is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.4%). 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 Tanush most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tanush in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (399 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 Tanush in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanush a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanush 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 Tanush still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanush 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 Tanush 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 common is the name Tanush?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Tanush at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.