Toneka
A feminine name derived from an indigenous North American language.
Name Census estimates that about 166 living Americans carry the first name Toneka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Toneka today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toneka births was 1982 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toneka. 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
166
~ 1 in 2,064,785 Americans
Peak year
1982
18 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1996 SSA rank
#11,727
Tracked since 1970
Census
Toneka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Toneka, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toneka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toneka is Black at 89.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Toneka 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 Toneka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.7% · 139
- White3.9% · 6
- Two or more races3.2% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Toneka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toneka from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 84 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Toneka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toneka 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 Toneka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tonekas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Toneka
The name Toneka has its origins in the Tonkawa Native American tribe, who inhabited parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The Tonkawa language, a linguistic isolate, is believed to be the source of this name. While its precise meaning is uncertain, some scholars suggest it could derive from the Tonkawa word "tonekau," meaning "they met" or "they encountered."
In the late 17th century, Spanish missionaries and explorers documented their encounters with the Tonkawa people, occasionally mentioning individuals with variations of this name. One of the earliest recorded instances is a Tonkawa woman named Tonekakia, who served as a guide and interpreter for the Spanish in the 1690s.
The name Toneka gained wider recognition in the 19th century, particularly through the life of Toneka, a prominent Tonkawa chief who led his people during their forced relocation from Texas to Oklahoma in the 1850s. His unwavering leadership and efforts to preserve his tribe's traditions earned him respect among both Native Americans and European settlers.
Another notable figure was Toneka Brown (1876-1945), a Tonkawa woman who became a respected educator and advocate for Native American rights. She worked tirelessly to establish schools and promote education within her community, leaving a lasting impact on future generations.
In the realm of literature, Toneka appears as the name of a character in the 1928 novel "Toneka" by John Russell McCarthy. This fictional work, set in the American West, helped popularize the name among non-Native American audiences.
While not as widely used as some other Native American names, Toneka has maintained a presence throughout history. One example is Toneka Crain (1924-2003), a Tonkawa artist renowned for her intricate beadwork and efforts to preserve her tribe's artistic traditions.
Despite its relative rarity, the name Toneka serves as a reminder of the rich cultural heritage of the Tonkawa people and their contributions to the tapestry of American history.
People
Toneka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toneka 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
Toneka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toneka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 166 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toneka 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 2,064,785 US residents.
Is Toneka a common name?
We classify Toneka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 179 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toneka most popular?
The single biggest year for Toneka was 1982, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toneka is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toneka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Toneka, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Toneka 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 Toneka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toneka appears almost entirely female. Of the 159 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Toneka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toneka is Black at 89.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Toneka most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Toneka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.7% (139 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 Toneka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toneka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toneka 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 Toneka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toneka 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 Toneka 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 share the name Toneka?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.