Tate
A masculine name of English origin meaning "pleasant place".
Name Census estimates that about 26,373 living Americans carry the first name Tate. It sits at #210 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (94.8% of registrations). The average person named Tate today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tate births was 2023 (1,928 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tate. 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 Tate with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Tate is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
26K
~ 1 in 12,996 Americans
Peak year
2023
1,928 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#210
Tracked since 1912
Census
Tate in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,140 people with the first name Tate, which placed it at #1,645 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
#1,645
National first-name rank
People counted
19K
19,140 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tate
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tate is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Tate 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 Tate at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.2% · 16,699
- Two or more races4.6% · 888
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 692
- Black or African American2.1% · 405
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 274
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 182
Gender
Gender distribution for Tate
Tate leans heavily male at 94.8% of total registrations, but 1,395 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tate as a male name
- Ranked #210 in 2024
- 1,697 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (1,851 births)
Tate as a female name
- Ranked #2,260 in 2024
- 83 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (83 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tate leans strongly male. 17,922 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 1,217 female bearers (6.4%).
Popularity
Tate: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tate from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 7,588 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tate 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 Tate during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tates live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. Texas, California, Utah recorded the most babies named Tate, while Vermont, Alaska, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 479 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tate
The name Tate has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "tæt," which means "cheerful" or "happy." It was a common name among the Anglo-Saxons, particularly in the regions of modern-day England, during the early medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The chronicle mentions a nobleman named Tate who lived in the 9th century and played a role in the struggles between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex.
In the realm of literature, the name Tate appears in the Old English epic poem "Beowulf," which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century. In the poem, Tate is mentioned as a warrior who accompanied the legendary hero Beowulf on his adventures.
During the Middle Ages, the name Tate gained popularity among the nobility and gentry of England. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Tate the Younger, a 12th-century monk and chronicler from the monastery of Bury St. Edmunds. His chronicles provide valuable insights into the social and political landscape of medieval England.
In the 16th century, Tate Loundez (c. 1556-1612) was a prominent English merchant and explorer who sailed to the West Indies and established trade relationships with the indigenous populations. He is known for his detailed accounts of the Caribbean islands and their inhabitants.
Another individual of note was Tate Wilkinson (1737-1808), an English actor, theatre manager, and theatrical publisher. He played a significant role in the development of regional theatre in England, establishing several theatres across the country.
Moving into the modern era, Tate Dugan (1888-1961) was an American labor leader and politician who served as the Secretary of Labor under President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1937. He was instrumental in implementing several labor reforms during the New Deal era.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Tate throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various periods and contexts.
People
Tate + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tate 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
Tate: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tate?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,373 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tate 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 12,996 US residents.
Is Tate a common name?
We classify Tate as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26,925 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tate most popular?
The single biggest year for Tate was 2023, when 1,928 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tate is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tate in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,140 people with the name Tate, or 6.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,645 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 Tate 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 Tate?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tate leans strongly male. 17,922 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 1,217 female bearers (6.4%). 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 Tate?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tate is White at 87.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Tate most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tate in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.2% (16,699 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 Tate in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tate a male name?
Yes, 94.8% of people registered as Tate 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 Tate still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tate 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 Tate 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 the name Tate?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.