Tenzin
A masculine Tibetan Buddhist name meaning "holder of Buddhist teachings".
Name Census estimates that about 2,779 living Americans carry the first name Tenzin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Tenzin today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tenzin births was 2014 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tenzin. 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 Tenzin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Tenzin sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Tenzin is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 123,337 Americans
Peak year
2014
141 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,279
Tracked since 1992
Census
Tenzin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,395 people with the first name Tenzin, which placed it at #3,736 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
#3,736
National first-name rank
People counted
5.4K
5,395 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tenzin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenzin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Tenzin 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 Tenzin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.2% · 4,976
- White3.7% · 201
- Two or more races2.2% · 119
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 74
- Black or African American0.5% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Tenzin
Tenzin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,807 total registrations, 1,590 (56.6%) were male and 1,217 (43.4%) were female.
Tenzin as a male name
- Ranked #2,279 in 2024
- 63 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (86 births)
Tenzin as a female name
- Ranked #3,207 in 2024
- 50 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (66 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tenzin on both sides of the split. Of the 5,399 people counted with this name, 2,908 were male (53.9%) and 2,491 were female (46.1%).
Popularity
Tenzin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tenzin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,286 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tenzin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tenzin 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 Tenzin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tenzins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Minnesota, California recorded the most babies named Tenzin, while Colorado, Wisconsin, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 248 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tenzin
The name Tenzin has its origins in the Tibetan language and culture, dating back several centuries. It is derived from the Tibetan word "tendzin," which means "holder of Buddhist teachings." The name is closely associated with Tibetan Buddhism and is believed to have been adopted by Buddhist practitioners and scholars.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tenzin can be found in the 14th century, with the birth of Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama (1935-present). Tenzin Gyatso is a renowned spiritual leader and the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in Amdo, Tibet, and was recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama at a young age.
Another notable figure in history with the name Tenzin was Tenzin Norgay (1914-1986), a Nepali-Tibetan Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two individuals to reach the summit of Mount Everest, alongside Edmund Hillary, on May 29, 1953. Tenzin Norgay's accomplishment was celebrated worldwide and he became a national hero in Nepal.
In the 20th century, Tenzin Palmo (born 1943) is a renowned Buddhist nun and teacher. She is best known for her 12-year solitary retreat in a remote cave in the Himalayas, which she undertook to further her spiritual practice. Tenzin Palmo's dedication and perseverance have inspired many individuals around the world.
Tenzin Choegyal (1939-2007) was a Tibetan politician and activist who advocated for the independence of Tibet from Chinese rule. He served as the representative of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile, and played a crucial role in raising awareness about the Tibetan cause on the international stage.
Tenzin Delek Rinpoche (1950-2015) was a Tibetan Buddhist lama and activist who advocated for the preservation of Tibetan culture and language. He was imprisoned by Chinese authorities for his activism and died in prison under suspicious circumstances, leading to widespread outcry from human rights organizations.
These are just a few notable individuals who have borne the name Tenzin throughout history. The name continues to hold significant cultural and spiritual significance within the Tibetan Buddhist community and beyond.
People
Tenzin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tenzin 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
Tenzin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tenzin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,779 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tenzin 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 123,337 US residents.
Is Tenzin a common name?
We classify Tenzin as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,807 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tenzin most popular?
The single biggest year for Tenzin was 2014, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tenzin is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tenzin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,395 people with the name Tenzin, or 1.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,736 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 Tenzin 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 Tenzin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tenzin on both sides of the split. Of the 5,399 people counted with this name, 2,908 were male (53.9%) and 2,491 were female (46.1%). 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 Tenzin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenzin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Tenzin most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tenzin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (4,976 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 Tenzin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tenzin a male name?
Yes, 56.6% of people registered as Tenzin 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 Tenzin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tenzin 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 Tenzin 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 are named Tenzin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.