Tighe
Anglicized spelling of the Irish given name Tadhg, meaning warrior or poet.
Name Census estimates that about 499 living Americans carry the first name Tighe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tighe today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tighe births was 1979 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tighe. 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
499
~ 1 in 686,882 Americans
Peak year
1979
20 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,648
Tracked since 1949
Popularity
Tighe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tighe from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 122 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
Tighe 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 Tighe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tighes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tighe
The given name Tighe originates from the Irish language and has its roots in the Gaelic word "tadhg," which means a poet, philosopher, or storyteller. The name is believed to have emerged in ancient Ireland, particularly among the Celtic populations of the island, during the early medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 6th century AD, when Saint Tighernach, an Irish monk and scholar, lived and worked. Saint Tighernach was renowned for his contributions to the field of Irish hagiography and is celebrated as the patron saint of the Diocese of Clones in County Monaghan, Ireland.
The name Tighe gained further prominence in the 9th century AD when Tigernach Ua Braein, an Irish annalist and chronicler, documented significant events of his time in the Annals of Tigernach. This historical text, written in the Irish language, provides valuable insights into the political and social landscapes of medieval Ireland.
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance period, the name Tighe was associated with several notable individuals. One such figure was Tighe O'Brien (1591-1642), an Irish soldier and landowner who fought for the Catholic Confederation during the Irish Confederate Wars of the 1640s.
In the 18th century, Tighe Barry (1725-1803) was an Irish politician and landowner who served as a member of the Irish Parliament for several years. He was also a prominent supporter of the United Irishmen, a revolutionary republican movement that sought to establish an independent Irish republic.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Tighe Browne (1829-1897), an Irish-born Australian politician and landowner. He served as a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was instrumental in the development of the Australian wool industry.
While the name Tighe has its origins in Ireland and is deeply rooted in Irish culture and history, it has also been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and ethnicities over the centuries. The name continues to carry connotations of storytelling, wisdom, and intellectual pursuits, reflecting its ancient Gaelic roots.
People
Tighe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tighe 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
Tighe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tighe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tighe 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 686,882 US residents.
Is Tighe a common name?
We classify Tighe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 518 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tighe most popular?
The single biggest year for Tighe was 1979, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tighe is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tighe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tighe 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.