Tiona
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "flower".
Name Census estimates that about 1,292 living Americans carry the first name Tiona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tiona today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tiona births was 1993 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tiona. 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 Tiona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 265,290 Americans
Peak year
1993
74 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,136
Tracked since 1967
Census
Tiona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,094 people with the first name Tiona, which placed it at #11,638 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
#11,638
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,094 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tiona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tiona is Black at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (15.4%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Tiona 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 Tiona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.8% · 742
- White15.4% · 169
- Two or more races9.0% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 55
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 14
Popularity
Tiona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tiona from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 450 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
Tiona 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 Tiona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tionas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Florida recorded the most babies named Tiona, while Texas, Illinois, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tiona
The name Tiona has its linguistic origins in the Gaelic language, specifically the Irish branch of the Celtic Goidelic languages. It is believed to have emerged as a feminine variant of the name Tadhg, which itself is derived from the old Irish word "tadg," meaning "poet" or "philosopher." The earliest recorded use of the name Tiona dates back to the 16th century in Ireland.
While the name's exact etymology is not entirely clear, it is thought to be connected to the ancient Irish mythological figure Tadhg mac Nuadat, a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. This cycle of tales and legends, which dates back to the 8th century, played a significant role in shaping Irish culture and storytelling traditions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tiona was Tiona O'Doherty, an Irish noblewoman who lived in the late 16th century. She was a member of the influential O'Doherty clan and played a role in the political and social landscape of Ireland during a tumultuous period of English colonization and conflict.
In the 17th century, Tiona O'Callaghan, born in 1620, was a notable figure in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. She was a member of the Old English gentry and participated in the uprising against English rule, highlighting the name's association with Ireland's struggle for independence.
Another noteworthy figure was Tiona MacCarthy, born in 1735, who was a prominent Irish poet and songwriter during the 18th century. Her works celebrated Irish culture and traditions, reflecting the enduring influence of the name's Celtic roots.
In the 19th century, Tiona O'Shaughnessy, born in 1822, was a renowned Irish harpist and music teacher. She played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Irish music, further solidifying the name's connection to Irish heritage and artistic expression.
Tiona O'Reilly, born in 1892, was a pioneering Irish feminist and political activist who fought for women's rights and Irish independence during the early 20th century. Her life and work showcased the name's enduring presence in Irish society and its association with progressive ideals.
People
Tiona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tiona 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
Tiona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tiona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tiona 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 265,290 US residents.
Is Tiona a common name?
We classify Tiona as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,341 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tiona most popular?
The single biggest year for Tiona was 1993, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tiona is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tiona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,094 people with the name Tiona, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,638 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 Tiona 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 Tiona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tiona appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,097 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Tiona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tiona is Black at 67.8%. The next largest groups are White (15.4%) and Two or More Races (9.0%). 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 Tiona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tiona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.8% (742 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 Tiona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tiona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tiona 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 Tiona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tiona 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 Tiona 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 are named Tiona?
Find out how many Americans are named Tiona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.