Thaniel
A masculine name combining Theodore (Greek, meaning "gift of God") and Daniel (Hebrew, meaning "God is my judge").
Name Census estimates that about 85 living Americans carry the first name Thaniel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thaniel today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thaniel births was 1999 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thaniel. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thaniel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
85
~ 1 in 4,032,404 Americans
Peak year
1999
9 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,844
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Thaniel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thaniel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 35 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Thaniel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thaniel 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 Thaniel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thaniel
The name Thaniel is an English variant of the Hebrew name Daniel, which means "God is my judge" or "God has judged." It is derived from the biblical figure Daniel, a prophet in the Hebrew Bible who lived during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC.
The name Daniel first appeared in the Book of Daniel, one of the books of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. It is believed to have been written during the 2nd century BC, though the events described in the book take place much earlier, during the Babylonian exile.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Thaniel was Thaniel Bostock, an English Puritan minister who lived from 1593 to 1648. He was a prominent figure in the English Reformation and served as a rector in various parishes.
Another notable figure with the name Thaniel was Thaniel Huart, a 17th-century French playwright and actor. He was active in the early years of the Comédie-Française, one of the most prestigious theaters in France.
In the 18th century, Thaniel Townsend was a British inventor and engineer who is credited with developing the first successful chain-driven agricultural machine, the Townsend Horse Hoe, in 1776.
Thaniel Lee, an American soldier and politician, served as a lieutenant in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he pursued a career in politics and was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1792.
A more recent figure with the name Thaniel was Thaniel Maye, an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club in the early 20th century, between 1904 and 1914.
While the name Thaniel has its roots in the Hebrew language and biblical tradition, it has been adapted and used in various cultures throughout history, reflecting its enduring appeal and the diverse individuals who have borne this name.
People
Thaniel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thaniel 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
Thaniel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thaniel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 85 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thaniel 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 4,032,404 US residents.
Is Thaniel a common name?
We classify Thaniel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 86 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thaniel most popular?
The single biggest year for Thaniel was 1999, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thaniel is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Thaniel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thaniel 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.