Tonette
A French feminine diminutive name referring to a little darling one.
Name Census estimates that about 1,241 living Americans carry the first name Tonette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tonette today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tonette births was 1967 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tonette. 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
1.2K
~ 1 in 276,192 Americans
Peak year
1967
73 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1999 SSA rank
#12,605
Tracked since 1939
Popularity
Tonette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tonette from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 556 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tonette 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 Tonette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tonettes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Illinois, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Tonette, while Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tonette
The name Tonette is a French diminutive form of the name Antoinette. It is derived from the Roman family name Antonius, which is believed to have originated from the Greek word "antonos," meaning "priceless" or "invaluable." The earliest recorded use of the name Antoinette dates back to the 16th century in France.
Tonette was a relatively popular name in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the most notable historical figures with this name was Marie Antoinette (1755-1793), the last Queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born as Maria Antonia, but her name was later Frenchified to Marie Antoinette.
Another famous Tonette from history was Antoinette Bourignon (1616-1680), a Flemish mystic and writer who founded a religious movement known as the Bourignian sect. She wrote several books on spiritual and religious topics, including "The Light of the World" and "The Renovation of the Gospel Spirit."
In the literary world, Antoinette Marguerite Victoire Iacqueminot (1772-1855), better known as Mme. Desbordes-Valmore, was a French Romantic poet and novelist. Her most famous work was a collection of poems titled "Poésies" published in 1819.
In the field of art, Antoinette Cecile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot (1784-1845) was a French painter and miniaturist active during the early 19th century. She is known for her portraits and miniatures of notable figures of the time, including members of the French royal family.
The name Tonette also had some prominence in the world of music. Antoinette Laure-Cinti (1846-1924), better known as Antoinette Sterling, was a French operatic soprano who performed in various operas and concerts across Europe in the late 19th century.
While the name Tonette is not as common today as it once was, it remains a charming and historic French name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Tonette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tonette 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
Tonette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tonette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,241 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tonette 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 276,192 US residents.
Is Tonette a common name?
We classify Tonette as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,505 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tonette most popular?
The single biggest year for Tonette was 1967, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tonette is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tonette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tonette 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.