Tempestt
A feminine name derived from the word "tempest", meaning a violent storm or commotion.
Name Census estimates that about 615 living Americans carry the first name Tempestt. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tempestt today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tempestt births was 1989 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tempestt. 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
615
~ 1 in 557,324 Americans
Peak year
1989
98 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2002 SSA rank
#17,875
Tracked since 1985
Census
Tempestt in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 529 people with the first name Tempestt, which placed it at #19,808 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
#19,808
National first-name rank
People counted
529
529 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tempestt
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tempestt is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and White (4.2%). 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 Tempestt 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 Tempestt at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American86.4% · 457
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 23
- White4.2% · 22
- Two or more races4.2% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Tempestt: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tempestt from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 371 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
Tempestt 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 Tempestt during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tempestts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. New York, Illinois, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Tempestt, while Ohio, Missouri, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tempestt
The given name Tempestt finds its origins in the English word "tempest," which itself derives from the Latin word "tempestas," meaning a storm or violent wind. This name is thought to have first emerged in the late 16th or early 17th century in England and other parts of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tempestt can be found in William Shakespeare's play "The Tempest," written in 1610-1611. In the play, the character Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan, is stranded on an island after being shipwrecked in a tempest. While the name Tempestt is not explicitly used for any character, the play's title and its central theme of a violent storm may have influenced the naming tradition.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Tempestt remained relatively uncommon, with few notable historical figures bearing this name. However, in the 19th century, a few individuals with the name Tempestt emerged. One such person was Tempestt Noxon (1832-1912), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.
In the 20th century, the name Tempestt gained more popularity, particularly in the United States. One of the most famous individuals with this name is Tempestt Bledsoe (born in 1973), an American actress best known for her role as Vanessa Huxtable on the sitcom "The Cosby Show." Another notable Tempestt was Tempestt Landry (1939-2009), an American country music singer and songwriter.
Other historical figures with the name Tempestt include Tempestt Weatherly (1903-1986), an American film actress who appeared in several movies during the 1930s and 1940s, and Tempestt Talley (1906-1988), an American blues singer and songwriter who performed in the 1920s and 1930s.
While not a particularly common name, Tempestt has a rich history and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, from politicians and lawyers to actresses and musicians. Its connection to the powerful imagery of a tempest or storm has likely contributed to its enduring appeal over the centuries.
People
Tempestt + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tempestt 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
Tempestt: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tempestt?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 615 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tempestt 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 557,324 US residents.
Is Tempestt a common name?
We classify Tempestt as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 643 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tempestt most popular?
The single biggest year for Tempestt was 1989, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tempestt is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tempestt in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 529 people with the name Tempestt, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,808 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 Tempestt 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 Tempestt?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tempestt appears almost entirely female. Of the 526 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 Tempestt?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tempestt is Black at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.3%) and White (4.2%). 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 Tempestt most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tempestt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (457 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 Tempestt in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tempestt a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tempestt 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 Tempestt still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tempestt 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 Tempestt 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 Tempestt?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.