Tinya
A feminine Sanskrit name meaning "the smallest" or "tiny".
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the first name Tinya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tinya today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tinya births was 1975 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tinya. 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
128
~ 1 in 2,677,768 Americans
Peak year
1975
15 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2010 SSA rank
#19,609
Tracked since 1960
Popularity
Tinya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tinya from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tinya 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 Tinya 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 Tinya
The name Tinya has its origins in the Sanskrit language, dating back to ancient India. It is derived from the word "Tina," which means "small" or "tiny." The name was often given to children, particularly girls, as a term of endearment, reflecting their diminutive stature and size.
In Hindu mythology, Tinya is mentioned as the name of a character in the epic Mahabharata. She was a minor character, a handmaiden to the princess Draupadi. While her role was relatively small, the inclusion of the name in such an ancient and revered text speaks to its antiquity and usage in ancient Indian society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tinya can be found in the Gupta Empire, which ruled over large parts of the Indian subcontinent from the 4th to the 6th century CE. Historical records from this period mention a female ruler named Tinya Devi, who governed a small kingdom in central India.
In the 12th century, a Rajput princess named Tinya Rani rose to prominence in the court of the Chahamana dynasty in present-day Rajasthan. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and skill in statecraft, and her name is mentioned in several contemporary accounts and chronicles.
During the Mughal era in India, which spanned from the 16th to the 19th century, the name Tinya was not uncommon among the nobility and aristocracy. One notable figure was Tinya Begum, a courtesan and poet who lived in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the late 16th century.
In more recent times, the name Tinya has been used by several notable individuals. Tinya Mitchum, an American actress and dancer, was born in 1934 and appeared in several films and television shows throughout her career. Tinya Irizarry, a Puerto Rican singer and songwriter, rose to fame in the 1980s and is known for her contributions to the Latin pop and salsa genres.
While the name Tinya is of Indian origin, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions over the centuries. Its meaning and association with smallness and endearment have remained relatively consistent, reflecting the universality of affection for children and the desire to bestow upon them names that capture their innocence and delicateness.
People
Tinya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tinya 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
Tinya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tinya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 128 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tinya 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 2,677,768 US residents.
Is Tinya a common name?
We classify Tinya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tinya most popular?
The single biggest year for Tinya was 1975, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tinya is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tinya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tinya 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.