Tiger
A name symbolizing power, strength, and fierceness in many cultures.
Name Census estimates that about 1,262 living Americans carry the first name Tiger. It is a predominantly male name (95.2% of registrations). The average person named Tiger today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tiger births was 2010 (130 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tiger. 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
- • Although Tiger is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 62 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 271,596 Americans
Peak year
2010
130 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,399
Tracked since 1962
Gender
Gender distribution for Tiger
Tiger leans heavily male at 95.2% of total registrations, but 62 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tiger as a male name
- Ranked #4,399 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (130 births)
Tiger as a female name
- Ranked #11,159 in 2022
- 9 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2001 (9 births)
Popularity
Tiger: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tiger from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 420 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tiger remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tiger 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 Tiger during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tigers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Tiger, while Illinois, Minnesota, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tiger
The name Tiger is believed to have originated from the English word "tiger," which itself comes from the ancient Greek word "tigris." The word "tigris" refers to the Tigris River, which flows through modern-day Iraq and was once home to tigers in the region.
The name Tiger is thought to have first appeared in the English-speaking world during the 16th century, as Europeans began exploring and colonizing parts of Asia and encountering tigers for the first time. The name was likely given to children to symbolize strength, power, and courage, characteristics associated with the majestic big cat.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tiger can be found in William Shakespeare's play, "Henry VI, Part 1," written around 1591. In the play, a character named Tiger is mentioned, though it is unclear whether this was a real person or a fictional character.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tiger. One of the earliest was Tiger Dunlap (1794-1857), an American frontiersman and trapper who lived in the American West during the 19th century.
Another famous Tiger was Tiger Flowers (1895-1927), an American blues musician from Arkansas who helped popularize the Delta blues style in the 1920s.
In the realm of sports, Tiger Woods (born 1975) is undoubtedly the most famous bearer of the name. Woods is a professional golfer who has won numerous major championships and is considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Tiger Muñoz (1947-2022) was a Mexican-American artist and activist known for his vibrant murals and advocacy for Chicano rights in Los Angeles.
Tiger Mask (born 1958) is the ring name of Satoru Sayama, a Japanese professional wrestler and martial artist who popularized the Tiger Mask character in the 1980s.
While the name Tiger is not as common as some other English names, its unique and powerful connotations have ensured its enduring appeal across various cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tiger
People
Tiger + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tiger 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
Tiger: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tiger?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tiger 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 271,596 US residents.
Is Tiger a common name?
We classify Tiger as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tiger most popular?
The single biggest year for Tiger was 2010, when 130 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tiger is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tiger a male name?
Yes, 95.2% of people registered as Tiger 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.