Tinker
An English occupational name for someone who mends pots and pans.
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Tinker. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 50.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Tinker today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tinker births was 1954 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tinker. 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
- • The typical person named Tinker is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Tinkers were born before 1967.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tinker. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1954
5 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1961 SSA rank
#4,610
Tracked since 1954
Census
Tinker in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 154 people with the first name Tinker, which placed it at #44,677 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
#44,677
National first-name rank
People counted
154
154 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tinker
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tinker is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Tinker 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 Tinker at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 113
- Black or African American9.7% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 4
- Two or more races1.9% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Tinker
Tinker is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 20 total registrations, 10 (50.0%) were male and 10 (50.0%) were female.
Tinker as a male name
- Ranked #4,610 in 1961
- 5 male births in 1961
- Peak: 1954 (5 births)
Tinker as a female name
- Ranked #7,129 in 1959
- 5 female births in 1959
- Peak: 1955 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tinker on both sides of the split. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 74 were male (44.8%) and 91 were female (55.2%).
Popularity
Tinker: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tinker from the 1950s through to the 1960s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Tinker remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tinker 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 Tinker during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tinker
The name Tinker is an occupational surname that originated in England during the Middle Ages, derived from the Old English word "tink," which means "to make a ringing sound." It was initially used to refer to a skilled metalworker or a mender of pots and pans, known for the distinctive sound of their hammering on metal.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name Tinker became associated with itinerant travelers and nomadic groups, often referred to as "Tinkers" or "Tinklers," who traveled from village to village, repairing household items and selling their wares. These groups were often viewed with suspicion and faced discrimination, leading to the term "Tinker" sometimes being used pejoratively.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tinker as a first name can be traced back to the late 16th century. One notable example is the English author and explorer Tinker Hubbard, who lived from 1584 to 1628 and is known for his travel narratives and accounts of his voyages to Africa and the Middle East.
In literature, the name Tinker has been immortalized in John Bunyan's allegorical work "The Pilgrim's Progress," published in 1678. The main character, Christian, is initially referred to as a "Tinker" before embarking on his spiritual journey. This association with Bunyan's influential work contributed to the name's enduring cultural significance.
Another famous bearer of the name Tinker was the American baseball player and manager Tinker Chance, who played for the Chicago Cubs in the early 20th century. He was part of the famous "Tinker to Evers to Chance" double-play combination, which became a popular phrase in baseball lore.
In the realm of art, Tinker Greene (1914-2002) was an American painter and printmaker known for her abstract expressionist works and her contributions to the Art Students League in New York City.
The name Tinker has also been associated with various fictional characters, such as Tinker Bell from J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan" stories and the character of Tinker from the animated film "Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return."
While the name Tinker may have had humble beginnings as an occupational surname, it has evolved to become a unique and distinctive first name with a rich history and cultural associations, resonating with storytellers, artists, and individuals seeking a name with character and a connection to the past.
People
Tinker + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tinker 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
Tinker: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tinker?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tinker 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Tinker a common name?
We classify Tinker as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tinker most popular?
The single biggest year for Tinker was 1954, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tinker is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tinker in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 154 people with the name Tinker, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,677 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 Tinker 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 Tinker?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tinker on both sides of the split. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 74 were male (44.8%) and 91 were female (55.2%). 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 Tinker?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tinker is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.7%) and Hispanic (8.4%). 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 Tinker most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tinker in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (113 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 Tinker in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tinker a female name?
Yes, 50.0% of people registered as Tinker 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 Tinker still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tinker 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 Tinker 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 common is the name Tinker?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Tinker at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.