Tashena
A feminine name of uncertain origin and meaning, possibly related to Tahshena.
Name Census estimates that about 314 living Americans carry the first name Tashena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tashena today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tashena births was 1986 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tashena. 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
314
~ 1 in 1,091,574 Americans
Peak year
1986
26 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2000 SSA rank
#14,857
Tracked since 1975
Census
Tashena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 305 people with the first name Tashena, which placed it at #29,174 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
#29,174
National first-name rank
People counted
305
305 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tashena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tashena is Black at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (15.4%). 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 Tashena 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 Tashena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.0% · 174
- White15.7% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native15.4% · 47
- Two or more races6.2% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Tashena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tashena from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 191 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
Tashena 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 Tashena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tashenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tashena
The name Tashena is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world and the root of many modern Indian and Southeast Asian languages. The name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "tash," which means "to carve" or "to shape," and the suffix "ena," which is often used to denote a feminine name.
In ancient Indian culture, names were often chosen based on their auspicious meanings or associated with deities or natural elements. The name Tashena could have been given to a child with the hope that she would grow up to be a skilled artisan or craftsperson, or perhaps someone who could shape and mold her own destiny.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Tashena can be found in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In this epic, Tashena is the name of a minor character, a handmaiden or attendant to one of the queens. This suggests that the name has been in use for centuries, perhaps even millennia.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tashena. One of the earliest recorded was Tashena of Masulipatnam, a 16th-century Indian poet and scholar who wrote in the Telugu language. Her works were celebrated for their lyrical beauty and exploration of spiritual themes.
Another famous Tashena was Tashena Begum, who lived in the 17th century and was a prominent figure in the Mughal court of Emperor Aurangzeb. She was known for her intelligence, eloquence, and patronage of the arts, and played a crucial role in the court's cultural and political affairs.
In the 19th century, Tashena Kali was a celebrated dancer and performer in the Indian state of Odisha. She was renowned for her mastery of the Odissi dance form and her ability to captivate audiences with her grace and expression.
In more recent times, Tashena Patel was a British-Indian artist and sculptor who gained recognition in the 1960s and 1970s for her innovative and thought-provoking works. Her sculptures often explored themes of identity, feminism, and cultural diversity.
Tashena Sampat was an Indian cricket player who represented the national team in the 1990s and early 2000s. She was a talented all-rounder and played a pivotal role in several of India's victories on the international stage.
While the name Tashena may not be as common today as it once was, it carries a rich history and cultural significance, reflecting the diverse and fascinating tapestry of human civilization.
People
Tashena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tashena 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
Tashena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tashena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 314 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tashena 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 1,091,574 US residents.
Is Tashena a common name?
We classify Tashena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 332 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tashena most popular?
The single biggest year for Tashena was 1986, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tashena is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tashena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 305 people with the name Tashena, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,174 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 Tashena 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 Tashena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tashena appears almost entirely female. Of the 297 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Tashena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tashena is Black at 57.0%. The next largest groups are White (15.7%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (15.4%). 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 Tashena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tashena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.0% (174 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 Tashena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tashena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tashena 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 Tashena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tashena 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 Tashena 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 share the name Tashena?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.