Tevita
A Polynesian masculine name meaning "crown".
Name Census estimates that about 835 living Americans carry the first name Tevita. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tevita today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tevita births was 2016 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tevita. 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
835
~ 1 in 410,484 Americans
Peak year
2016
31 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,018
Tracked since 1979
Census
Tevita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 996 people with the first name Tevita, which placed it at #12,471 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
#12,471
National first-name rank
People counted
996
996 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tevita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tevita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.5%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Tevita 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 Tevita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.2% · 839
- Two or more races10.5% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 28
- White1.6% · 16
- Black or African American0.8% · 8
Popularity
Tevita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tevita from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 233 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tevita remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tevita 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 Tevita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tevitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Utah, Hawaii recorded the most babies named Tevita, while Hawaii, Utah, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 163 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tevita
Tevita is a Tongan name derived from the Biblical name David, which in turn comes from the Hebrew name Dawid, meaning "beloved". The name likely arrived in Tonga with the introduction of Christianity in the late 18th century by European missionaries.
In Tonga, the name Tevita is a popular male name, often given to honor the Biblical King David of Israel, who is regarded as a significant figure in both Judaism and Christianity. The name has been in use among the Tongan people for several centuries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Tevita can be found in the writings of early Christian missionaries who visited Tonga in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. These missionaries often documented the names of their converts and the local people they encountered.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tevita. One of the most famous was Tevita Tupou, a Tongan chief and military leader who played a significant role in the unification of Tonga in the 19th century. He lived from 1797 to 1859.
Another prominent figure was Tevita Anaua, a Tongan politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was born in 1857 and died in 1923.
In the realm of sports, Tevita Tuilovoni was a Tongan rugby union player who represented Tonga in the late 20th century. He played as a prop and was part of the Tongan national team that competed in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
Tevita Momoedonu was a Tongan politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga in the early 20th century. He served as a noble representative and was born in 1874, passing away in 1953.
Tevita Vakalahi was a Tongan academic and educator who made significant contributions to the field of education in Tonga in the late 20th century. He was born in 1935 and played a crucial role in shaping the country's educational system during his lifetime.
People
Tevita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tevita 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
Tevita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tevita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 835 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tevita 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 410,484 US residents.
Is Tevita a common name?
We classify Tevita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 850 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tevita most popular?
The single biggest year for Tevita was 2016, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tevita is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tevita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 996 people with the name Tevita, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,471 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 Tevita 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 Tevita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tevita leans strongly male. 985 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 12 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Tevita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tevita is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.5%) and Hispanic (2.8%). 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 Tevita most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tevita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (839 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 Tevita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tevita a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tevita 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 Tevita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tevita 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 Tevita 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 Americans are named Tevita?
See how many people share the name Tevita on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.