Tanza
An inventive name of unknown origin, potentially inspired by natural landscapes.
Name Census estimates that about 144 living Americans carry the first name Tanza. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanza today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanza births was 1963 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanza. 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.
People living today
144
~ 1 in 2,380,238 Americans
Peak year
1963
11 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
1986 SSA rank
#8,445
Tracked since 1956
Census
Tanza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 195 people with the first name Tanza, which placed it at #38,993 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
#38,993
National first-name rank
People counted
195
195 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanza is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Tanza 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 Tanza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.5% · 118
- White33.3% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 6
- Two or more races2.1% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 2
Popularity
Tanza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanza from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 71 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Tanza remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tanza 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 Tanza 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 Tanza
The name Tanza has its origins in the Bantu languages spoken in various regions of Africa. It is derived from the root word "tanz," which means "journey" or "travel." This linguistic connection suggests that the name Tanza may have been given to individuals who were travelers, explorers, or those who embarked on significant journeys during their lifetimes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tanza can be found in ancient Swahili texts dating back to the 12th century. These texts mention a prominent trader named Tanza ibn Khalid, who traveled extensively along the East African coast, facilitating the exchange of goods and building economic ties between various coastal settlements.
In the 14th century, there are references to a female ruler named Tanza in the Kingdom of Kongo, located in present-day Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was known for her diplomatic skills and her efforts to strengthen trade relations with neighboring kingdoms.
During the 16th century, a renowned Islamic scholar and poet from what is now Somalia, Tanza al-Mogadishu, gained widespread recognition for his contributions to Sufi literature and mystical poetry. His works were widely circulated and studied throughout the region.
In the 18th century, a notable figure named Tanza Mvemba emerged as a powerful chief and military leader in the Kingdom of Kongo. He was instrumental in defending the kingdom against Portuguese colonization efforts and is remembered for his bravery and strategic leadership.
Another individual of historical significance was Tanza Malonga, a 19th-century explorer and cartographer from the Kingdom of Kongo. He embarked on numerous expeditions, mapping uncharted territories and contributing to the understanding of the region's geography and natural resources.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Tanza. While the name has its roots in African culture and languages, it has likely been adopted and used in various contexts across different parts of the world, reflecting the diverse journeys and travels of those who carried this name.
People
Tanza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanza 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
Tanza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 144 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanza 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 2,380,238 US residents.
Is Tanza a common name?
We classify Tanza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 168 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanza most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanza was 1963, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanza is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 195 people with the name Tanza, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,993 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 Tanza 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 Tanza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanza leans strongly female. 183 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 7 male bearers (3.7%). 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 Tanza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanza is Black at 60.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%). 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 Tanza most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tanza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (118 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 Tanza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanza a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanza 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 Tanza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanza 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 Tanza 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 Americans are named Tanza?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.