Tossie
A diminutive feminine name of unknown origin.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Tossie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tossie today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tossie births was 1917 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tossie. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tossie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1917
8 babies that year
Average age
-
1918 SSA rank
#5,521
Tracked since 1908
Popularity
Tossie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tossie from the 1900s through to the 1910s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 26 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tossie 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 Tossie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tossie
The name Tossie is believed to have originated from the Old English word "tosian," which means "to toss" or "to shake." This suggests that the name may have been derived from an occupation or activity related to tossing or shaking, such as a miller or a farmer who tossed grain.
In the Middle Ages, the name Tossie was primarily used in England and parts of Scotland. It was often a nickname or a diminutive form of a longer name, such as Theodosius or Theodora. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 13th century, when it appeared in parish records and tax rolls.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Tossie was Tossie de Burgh, a noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century and was a member of the powerful de Burgh family in Ireland. Another notable figure with this name was Tossie Gervays, a merchant and landowner who lived in York, England, in the 14th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Tossie became less common, but it was still used occasionally. One notable bearer was Tossie Boleyn, a distant relative of Anne Boleyn, who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century.
In the 17th century, a Puritan minister named Tossie Wilkins gained some renown for his fiery sermons and writings against the established Church of England. He was born in 1620 and died in 1694.
Another prominent figure named Tossie was Tossie Smythe, a Scottish botanist and explorer who traveled extensively in the Americas in the late 18th century. She was born in 1745 and died in 1812, leaving behind valuable records and specimens of plant life from her expeditions.
While the name Tossie has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and genealogies, offering a glimpse into the lives and times of those who bore this unique and intriguing name throughout the centuries.
People
Tossie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tossie 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
Tossie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tossie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tossie 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 - US residents.
Is Tossie a common name?
We classify Tossie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tossie most popular?
The single biggest year for Tossie was 1917, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tossie is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Tossie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tossie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tossie 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 Tossie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tossie 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 Tossie 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Tossie?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Tossie, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.