Tawnie
A feminine name referring to the tawny or orange-brown color.
Name Census estimates that about 808 living Americans carry the first name Tawnie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tawnie today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tawnie births was 1988 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tawnie. 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
808
~ 1 in 424,201 Americans
Peak year
1988
45 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2007 SSA rank
#17,437
Tracked since 1951
Popularity
Tawnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tawnie from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 262 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Tawnie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tawnie 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 Tawnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tawnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Utah, Washington recorded the most babies named Tawnie, while Michigan, Arizona, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tawnie
The name Tawnie is a variant of the English name Tawny, which is derived from the Middle English word "taun," meaning "tan" or "yellowish-brown." It is believed to have originated as a nickname or descriptive term for someone with tanned or ruddy skin or perhaps reddish-brown hair.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tawny dates back to the 16th century in England, where it was used as a surname or descriptive term before becoming a given name. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Tawny Owlglass, an English maker of spectacles mentioned in records from the late 16th century.
In the 17th century, the name Tawny appears in several literary works, including John Donne's poem "The Undertaking" (1633), where he refers to a character named "Tawny, the mistress." This suggests that the name was in use, albeit perhaps as a nickname or descriptive term, during this period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tawnie was Tawnie Sinclair, a Scottish woman born around 1695. She was known for her involvement in the Jacobite risings, a series of uprisings aimed at restoring the House of Stuart to the British throne.
Another notable figure was Tawnie Terrell (1924-2008), an American singer and actress who gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. She appeared in several films and television shows, including "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."
In the literary world, Tawnie Kroll (1936-2013) was an American writer and editor known for her poetry and children's books. She published several collections of poetry and was also a respected editor for children's literature.
Tawnie Thompson (born 1975) is a Canadian actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films, including "Saw IV" and "The X-Files."
Tawnie Amber Rios (born 1978) is an American adult film actress and director who has worked in the adult entertainment industry since the late 1990s. She has appeared in numerous adult films and has also directed several productions.
While the name Tawnie is not as common as some other names, it has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life throughout the centuries.
People
Tawnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tawnie 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
Tawnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tawnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 808 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tawnie 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 424,201 US residents.
Is Tawnie a common name?
We classify Tawnie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 871 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tawnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Tawnie was 1988, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tawnie is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tawnie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tawnie 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.
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.