Tilley
A feminine name derived from the Old English word for "lineage".
Name Census estimates that about 227 living Americans carry the first name Tilley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tilley today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tilley births was 2023 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tilley. 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 Tilley with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
227
~ 1 in 1,509,931 Americans
Peak year
2023
28 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,119
Tracked since 2005
Census
Tilley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 187 people with the first name Tilley, which placed it at #40,012 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
#40,012
National first-name rank
People counted
187
187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tilley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tilley is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Tilley 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 Tilley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.4% · 156
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 9
- Two or more races4.8% · 9
- Black or African American3.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 3
Popularity
Tilley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tilley from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 111 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tilley 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 Tilley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tilleys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tilley
The name Tilley is believed to have originated as a diminutive or nickname form of the medieval English name Matilda. Matilda itself is derived from the Germanic elements "maht" meaning "might" or "strength" and "hild" meaning "battle." The name was popularized in England by the Norman French after the conquest of 1066, as it was the name of William the Conqueror's wife.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tilley dates back to the late 12th century, appearing in various English records and documents from that era. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Tilley de Wynneforde, a landowner mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Sussex in 1196.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Tilley de Neville was a member of the powerful Neville family in northern England. She was born around 1220 and was known for her involvement in various legal disputes over land and property rights.
During the Renaissance period, the name Tilley gained some popularity among literary circles. One example is Tilley Durfey, an English playwright and poet who lived from 1653 to 1723. He was known for his comedic works and satires, which were popular in the Restoration era.
In the 18th century, a woman named Tilley Fowler (1711-1783) gained recognition as an accomplished artist and miniaturist. Her portraits and miniature paintings were highly regarded among the English aristocracy and gentry of her time.
Another notable bearer of the name was Tilley Kettle (1735-1786), a British sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean in 1772-1775. Kettle was instrumental in charting and mapping many of the islands and coastlines they encountered during the expedition.
While the name Tilley has deep historical roots, it has become less common in modern times, though it still holds a certain charm and distinctiveness. Its origins and evolution showcase the rich tapestry of cultural influences that have shaped English naming traditions over the centuries.
People
Tilley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tilley 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
Tilley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tilley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 227 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tilley 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 1,509,931 US residents.
Is Tilley a common name?
We classify Tilley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 229 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tilley most popular?
The single biggest year for Tilley was 2023, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tilley is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tilley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 187 people with the name Tilley, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,012 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 Tilley 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 Tilley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tilley leans strongly female. 164 people counted with this name were female (91.6%), compared with 15 male bearers (8.4%). 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 Tilley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tilley is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.8%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Tilley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tilley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.4% (156 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 Tilley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tilley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tilley 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 Tilley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tilley 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 Tilley 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 Tilley?
See how many people share the name Tilley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.