Tin
A Vietnamese given name meaning "true, sincere, or earnest."
Name Census estimates that about 426 living Americans carry the first name Tin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tin today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tin births was 1993 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tin. 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 Tin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
426
~ 1 in 804,588 Americans
Peak year
1993
18 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,856
Tracked since 1979
Census
Tin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,380 people with the first name Tin, which placed it at #4,322 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
#4,322
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.5%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Tin 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 Tin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.5% · 4,052
- White4.9% · 216
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 44
- Black or African American0.8% · 35
- Two or more races0.6% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 6
Popularity
Tin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tin from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 141 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tin 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 Tin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tin
The given name Tin is a diminutive form of the name Tindaro, which is derived from the Greek word "tindaris," meaning "the one from Tyndaris." Tyndaris was an ancient Greek city located in Sicily, Italy, founded in 396 BC by Dionysius I of Syracuse. The name is believed to have originated during the classical period of ancient Greek civilization.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Tin can be found in the works of the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the 1st century BC. In his writings, he mentions a Sicilian ruler named Tindaro, who was a contemporary of Dionysius I.
The name Tin gained popularity in medieval Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. Several notable historical figures bore this name, including Tin Codino (1070-1139), a Venetian merchant and diplomat who played a crucial role in the Fourth Crusade.
Another significant figure was Tin Petković (1628-1667), a Croatian military leader and hero who fought against the Ottoman Empire during the Cretan War. He is remembered for his bravery and leadership in defending the island of Crete.
In the 18th century, Tin Quilis (1732-1808) was a Spanish painter known for his religious artwork and portraiture. He was a prominent figure in the Spanish Baroque art movement.
During the 19th century, Tin Ujević (1891-1955) was a Croatian poet and one of the most influential literary figures in the country. His works, which explored themes of love, nature, and nationalism, are widely studied and celebrated in Croatia.
While the name Tin has its roots in ancient Greek culture and was prevalent in medieval Europe, it has since become less common. However, it continues to be used, primarily in regions with historical ties to the Mediterranean and Balkan regions, where it has its origins.
People
Tin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tin 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
Tin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 426 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tin 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 804,588 US residents.
Is Tin a common name?
We classify Tin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 436 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tin most popular?
The single biggest year for Tin was 1993, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tin is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,380 people with the name Tin, or 1.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,322 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 Tin 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 Tin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tin on both sides of the split. Of the 4,377 people counted with this name, 3,365 were male (76.9%) and 1,012 were female (23.1%). 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 Tin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.5%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 Tin most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.5% (4,052 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 Tin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tin 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.
Is Tin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tin 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 Tin 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 people share the name Tin?
Find out how many people share the name Tin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.