Tevis
A masculine name of French origin meaning "estate tenant".
Name Census estimates that about 504 living Americans carry the first name Tevis. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Tevis today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tevis births was 1977 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tevis. 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
504
~ 1 in 680,068 Americans
Peak year
1977
22 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2017 SSA rank
#10,654
Tracked since 1912
Gender
Gender distribution for Tevis
Tevis leans heavily male at 88.5% of total registrations, but 64 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tevis as a male name
- Ranked #10,654 in 2017
- 7 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1977 (22 births)
Tevis as a female name
- Ranked #12,043 in 1981
- 5 female births in 1981
- Peak: 1970 (8 births)
Popularity
Tevis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tevis from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 152 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
Tevis 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 Tevis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tevis' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tevis
The given name Tevis finds its origins in the Old English language, originating in the Anglo-Saxon era of Britain, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "tæfes" or "tæfese," which were terms used to describe a type of game or sport played with a dice or a small cube. The name may have initially been used to refer to someone who was skilled or fond of playing such games.
In the early medieval period, the name was primarily found in regions of England where Anglo-Saxon settlements were prevalent, such as the kingdoms of Wessex, Mercia, and Northumbria. Variations in spelling, such as "Tæfes" and "Tæfese," can be seen in ancient Anglo-Saxon records and manuscripts from that era.
While there are no known direct references to the name Tevis in major religious scriptures or ancient texts, it is possible that the name may have been mentioned in local parish records or chronicles of the time, as it was not an uncommon name among the Anglo-Saxon population.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tevis can be traced back to a historical figure named Tevis of Mercia, who lived in the 8th century and was a renowned warrior and advisor to the Mercian king Offa. Another notable bearer of the name was Tevis the Scribe, a monk and scholar who lived in the 10th century and is credited with transcribing several important manuscripts and religious texts.
In the centuries that followed, the name continued to be used, although it became less common as the influence of the Norman French language and culture spread across England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. However, some notable individuals still carried the name Tevis throughout history, including:
1. Tevis of Bury St Edmunds (c. 1170-1245), an English ecclesiastic and chronicler.
2. Tevis de Beaumont (c. 1265-1318), a French nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War.
3. Tevis Parnell (c. 1637-1717), an English writer and poet.
4. Tevis Littleton (1765-1839), an American politician and jurist who served as a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.
5. Tevis Clyde Smith (1888-1968), an American novelist and playwright known for his works set in the American West.
As the name Tevis gradually fell out of widespread use, it became more of a unique and distinctive name, often associated with a sense of history and heritage for those who bore it.
People
Tevis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tevis 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
Tevis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tevis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 504 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tevis 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 680,068 US residents.
Is Tevis a common name?
We classify Tevis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 558 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tevis most popular?
The single biggest year for Tevis was 1977, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tevis is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tevis a male name?
Yes, 88.5% of people registered as Tevis 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.
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.