Topanga
A feminine name derived from the Native American Tongva tribe meaning "where the mountain meets the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 760 living Americans carry the first name Topanga. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Topanga today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Topanga births was 1998 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Topanga. 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
760
~ 1 in 450,993 Americans
Peak year
1998
48 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,271
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Topanga: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Topanga from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 230 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Topanga remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Topanga 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 Topanga during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Topangas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Topanga, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Topanga
The given name Topanga is believed to have originated from the Native American Tongva tribe, who inhabited the Los Angeles basin and surrounding areas in what is now Southern California. The name is derived from the Tongva word "Topanga-nga", which means "where the mountain meets the sea".
Topanga is also the name of a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, located in Los Angeles County, California. The Topanga Canyon was an important area for the Tongva people, and the name of the canyon likely predates the arrival of Spanish colonizers in the region.
There are no known historical references to the name Topanga in ancient texts or religious scriptures, as it is a relatively modern name that gained popularity in the 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Topanga was Princess Topanga, a member of the Tongva tribe who lived in the late 18th century. She was known for her leadership and advocacy for her people's rights during the Spanish mission period in California.
Another notable person with the name Topanga was Topanga Skye, an American actress and model who was born in 1985. She is best known for her roles in the television series "Boy Meets World" and its sequel series "Girl Meets World".
In the early 20th century, there was a Topanga Madeleine, a French-American artist and activist who was born in 1902 and was known for her vibrant paintings depicting the landscapes of Southern California and her work in promoting environmental conservation.
Topanga Callaway, born in 1968, was an American musician and songwriter who gained popularity in the folk and indie music scenes of the 1990s and 2000s.
Lastly, Topanga Ramírez, a Mexican-American writer and academic, was born in 1975 and is known for her contributions to Chicana literature and her work in exploring issues of identity and cultural heritage.
People
Topanga + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Topanga 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
Topanga: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Topanga?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 760 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Topanga 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 450,993 US residents.
Is Topanga a common name?
We classify Topanga as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 770 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Topanga most popular?
The single biggest year for Topanga was 1998, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Topanga is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Topanga a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Topanga 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.