Tonatiuh
A masculine name of Nahuatl origin meaning "sun god".
Name Census estimates that about 300 living Americans carry the first name Tonatiuh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tonatiuh today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tonatiuh births was 2011 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tonatiuh. 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
300
~ 1 in 1,142,514 Americans
Peak year
2011
22 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,670
Tracked since 1993
Census
Tonatiuh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 310 people with the first name Tonatiuh, which placed it at #28,807 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
#28,807
National first-name rank
People counted
310
310 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tonatiuh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tonatiuh is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (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 Tonatiuh 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 Tonatiuh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.2% · 292
- White2.6% · 8
- Black or African American1.0% · 3
- Two or more races1.0% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Tonatiuh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tonatiuh from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 112 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tonatiuh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tonatiuh 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 Tonatiuh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tonatiuhs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tonatiuh
Tonatiuh is a given name of Nahuatl origin, derived from the Aztec language spoken in central Mexico. The name literally translates to "He who goes forth shining" or "Reverend Sun", referring to the Aztec sun god, Tonatiuh.
This name has its roots in the rich cultural and religious traditions of the Aztec civilization, which thrived in the region now known as Mexico between the 14th and 16th centuries. The Aztecs were deeply connected to nature and the celestial bodies, and Tonatiuh was one of their most revered deities, representing the life-giving force of the sun.
The name Tonatiuh is mentioned in various Aztec codices and historical records, such as the Codex Mendoza, which depicts the Aztec sun god and the associated rituals and ceremonies. It is also found in the Florentine Codex, a comprehensive ethnographic study of Aztec culture compiled in the 16th century by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tonatiuh was a Mexica ruler known as Tonatiuh Ilhuicamina, who reigned in the early 15th century. He was succeeded by his son, Tonatiuh II, who inherited the throne and continued the Aztec tradition of honoring the sun god.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tonatiuh, including Tonatiuh Quiauhtli (c. 1486 - c. 1540), a Nahua warrior and conquistador who fought alongside Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of Mexico. Tonatiuh Díaz (1917 - 2008) was a Mexican artist and sculptor known for his monumental public works and abstract representations of pre-Hispanic themes.
Another prominent figure was Tonatiuh Gutiérrez (1920 - 2008), a Mexican painter and muralist whose works depicted the indigenous people and landscapes of Mexico. Tonatiuh García Rubio (born 1956) is a Mexican writer and academic, celebrated for his contributions to contemporary Mexican literature.
Tonatiuh Velázquez (born 1978) is a Mexican-American author and illustrator who has won numerous awards, including the Pura Belpré Illustrator Award, for his children's books celebrating Mexican culture and history.
People
Tonatiuh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tonatiuh 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
Tonatiuh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tonatiuh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 300 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tonatiuh 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 1,142,514 US residents.
Is Tonatiuh a common name?
We classify Tonatiuh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tonatiuh most popular?
The single biggest year for Tonatiuh was 2011, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tonatiuh is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tonatiuh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 310 people with the name Tonatiuh, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,807 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 Tonatiuh 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 Tonatiuh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tonatiuh leans strongly male. 302 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 6 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Tonatiuh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tonatiuh is Hispanic at 94.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Black (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 Tonatiuh most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Tonatiuh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.2% (292 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 Tonatiuh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tonatiuh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tonatiuh 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 Tonatiuh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tonatiuh 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 Tonatiuh 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 have the name Tonatiuh?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.