Tempest
A violent storm or commotion, derived from the Latin word 'tempestas'.
Name Census estimates that about 1,225 living Americans carry the first name Tempest. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tempest today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tempest births was 1990 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tempest. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 279,799 Americans
Peak year
1990
98 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,876
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Tempest: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tempest from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 402 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tempest 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 Tempest during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tempests live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tempest, while Virginia, Michigan, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tempest
The name Tempest is derived from the Old French word "tempeste," which means a violent storm or commotion. The word itself traces its origins back to the Latin word "tempestas," meaning a season, weather, or storm. The name is believed to have originated in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century.
One of the earliest known references to the name Tempest can be found in Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," written in the early 17th century. In the play, Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, is stranded on an island after being usurped by his brother. The tempest of the title refers to a powerful storm that Prospero conjures up to shipwreck his enemies on the island.
The name Tempest has been used as a given name for both males and females throughout history, although it has been more commonly used for females in recent times. One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tempest was Tempest Cromwell (c. 1599-1668), an English lawyer and relative of Oliver Cromwell.
In the 18th century, there was Tempest Wickham (c. 1700-1786), an English politician and landowner. Another notable figure with the name was Tempest Anderson (1846-1913), an American businessman and philanthropist from Ohio.
Moving into the 20th century, Tempest Storm (born Annie Beatrice McDowell, 1928-2021) was an American stripper and actress who became famous for her stagecraft and showmanship. She was known as the "Queen of Exotic Dancers" and performed in Las Vegas and other venues for several decades.
Another individual with the name was Tempest Blake (1960-2022), an American model and actress who appeared in various films and television shows throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including "The Beastmaster" and "Red Heat."
People
Tempest + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tempest 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
Tempest: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tempest?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,225 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tempest 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 279,799 US residents.
Is Tempest a common name?
We classify Tempest as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,306 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tempest most popular?
The single biggest year for Tempest was 1990, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tempest is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tempest a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tempest 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.