Tiani
A feminine name of American origin, meaning "fairy princess".
Name Census estimates that about 719 living Americans carry the first name Tiani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tiani today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tiani births was 1999 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tiani. 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 Tiani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
719
~ 1 in 476,710 Americans
Peak year
1999
38 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,471
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tiani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 642 people with the first name Tiani, which placed it at #17,263 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
#17,263
National first-name rank
People counted
642
642 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tiani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tiani is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and Two or More Races (13.7%). 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 Tiani 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 Tiani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.2% · 258
- Hispanic or Latino24.9% · 160
- Two or more races13.7% · 88
- White10.1% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.0% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
Popularity
Tiani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tiani from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 256 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tiani 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 Tiani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tianis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Hawaii, California, New York recorded the most babies named Tiani, while Texas, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tiani
The name Tiani originates from the Hawaiian language and culture. It is a relatively modern name, with its earliest recorded use dating back to the late 19th century. The name is thought to be derived from the Hawaiian word "tiana," which means "radiant" or "brilliant."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tiani is found in the Hawaiian language newspaper "Ka Nupepa Kuokoa" from 1884, where it appears as a personal name. While the name's origins are Hawaiian, it gained popularity in other regions and cultures over time.
In the early 20th century, a notable figure named Tiani was Tiani Cilli Manketti, an Italian opera singer born in 1892. She performed extensively in Europe and is remembered for her powerful soprano voice and her interpretations of operatic roles.
Another historical figure with the name Tiani was Tiani Rakitzis, a Greek painter and sculptor born in 1919. She was part of the avant-garde art movement in Greece and is known for her abstract expressionist works, which often explored themes of identity and the human condition.
In the realm of literature, Tiani Navarro was a Mexican novelist and poet born in 1937. She was a prominent figure in the Latin American literary scene and her works often explored themes of social justice, feminism, and the experiences of marginalized communities.
Moving to the world of sports, Tiani Briggs was a renowned Australian track and field athlete born in 1968. She competed in numerous international competitions, including the Olympic Games, and held several national records in sprinting events.
Finally, Tiani Ahuana was a Tahitian environmental activist born in 1975. She played a crucial role in raising awareness about the impact of nuclear testing on the Polynesian islands and advocated for the protection of indigenous cultures and the environment.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Tiani, showcasing its global reach and diverse cultural representations.
People
Tiani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tiani 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
Tiani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tiani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 719 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tiani 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 476,710 US residents.
Is Tiani a common name?
We classify Tiani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 738 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tiani most popular?
The single biggest year for Tiani was 1999, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tiani is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tiani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 642 people with the name Tiani, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,263 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 Tiani 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 Tiani?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tiani appears almost entirely female. Of the 639 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Tiani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tiani is Black at 40.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and Two or More Races (13.7%). 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 Tiani most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tiani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.2% (258 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 Tiani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tiani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tiani 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 Tiani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tiani 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 Tiani 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 Tiani?
See how many people have the name Tiani on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.