Tinesha
A feminine name with possible origins in an African language.
Name Census estimates that about 717 living Americans carry the first name Tinesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tinesha today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tinesha births was 1982 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tinesha. 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
717
~ 1 in 478,040 Americans
Peak year
1982
42 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2003 SSA rank
#15,628
Tracked since 1969
Popularity
Tinesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tinesha from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 341 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tinesha 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 Tinesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tineshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Tinesha, while Virginia, Texas, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tinesha
The name Tinesha has its origins in the African-American community, emerging in the latter half of the 20th century. It is believed to be a modern variation of the name Tinisha, which is derived from a combination of the English names Tina and Nisha. The name Tina itself is a diminutive form of the Latin name Christina, meaning "a Christian" or "follower of Christ."
While the name Tinesha does not have a direct historical or cultural reference, it reflects the creative naming practices within the African-American community during the latter part of the 20th century. This period saw a resurgence of cultural pride and a desire to establish unique identities through the creation of new names or variations of existing ones.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tinesha can be found in the book "Black Names in America: Origins and Usage" by Gladys-Marie Fry, published in 1977. This suggests that the name was already in circulation by the mid-to-late 1970s.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tinesha. Tinesha Zandamela, born in 1988, is a South African singer and songwriter who gained recognition as a contestant on the reality competition show Idols South Africa in 2010. Tinesha Thompson, born in 1989, is an American professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for the Los Angeles Sparks and the Atlanta Dream.
Another prominent figure is Tinesha Monique Henton, born in 1987, an American track and field athlete specializing in the long jump and triple jump events. She represented the United States at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Tinesha Burroughs, born in 1990, is an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Allysin Kay.
Tinesha Allen, born in 1977, is an American former professional basketball player who played in the WNBA for teams such as the Charlotte Sting and the Minnesota Lynx. She was a standout player at the University of Virginia and was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.
People
Tinesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tinesha 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
Tinesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tinesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 717 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tinesha 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 478,040 US residents.
Is Tinesha a common name?
We classify Tinesha 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, 762 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tinesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tinesha was 1982, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tinesha is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tinesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tinesha 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.
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.