Toure
A traditional African name meaning "free man" or "traveler".
Name Census estimates that about 405 living Americans carry the first name Toure. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Toure today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toure births was 2008 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toure. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Toure with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
405
~ 1 in 846,307 Americans
Peak year
2008
18 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,170
Tracked since 1965
Census
Toure in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 446 people with the first name Toure, which placed it at #22,352 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
#22,352
National first-name rank
People counted
446
446 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toure
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toure is Black at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Toure 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 Toure at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.3% · 394
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 24
- Two or more races4.3% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
- White0.9% · 4
Popularity
Toure: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toure from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 102 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toure 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 Toure during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toures live
Origin
Meaning and history of Toure
The name Toure has its origins in the Mande languages of West Africa, particularly in the Malinke and Bambara dialects spoken in present-day Mali and Guinea. It is derived from the word "tour," meaning "to break" or "to separate," suggesting a connection to strength and resilience.
Historically, the name Toure has been associated with the Keita dynasty, which ruled the Mali Empire from the 13th to the 17th century. This powerful empire controlled a vast territory spanning parts of modern-day Mali, Senegal, Guinea, and Mauritania. During this period, the name Toure was often borne by members of the ruling class and military leaders.
One of the earliest and most notable figures bearing the name Toure was Sundiata Keita, also known as Mari Djata or Lion Prince, who lived from approximately 1190 to 1255. He was the founder of the Mali Empire and is celebrated as a legendary hero in West African oral traditions for his bravery and military prowess in uniting the Mande peoples.
Another prominent figure was Mansa Musa I, the ninth mansa (emperor) of the Mali Empire, who reigned from 1312 to 1337. He is renowned for his immense wealth, which he showcased during his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, and for promoting the spread of Islam and scholarship throughout his empire.
In the 20th century, one of the most influential figures with the name Toure was Sekou Toure (1922-1984), a Guinean political leader and revolutionary who led Guinea to independence from French colonial rule in 1958. He served as the first President of Guinea until his death and was a prominent figure in the Pan-African movement.
Another notable individual was Ahmed Sekou Toure (1923-1986), a Malian writer, poet, and political activist who played a significant role in the cultural and literary renaissance of Mali in the post-colonial era. His works celebrated Malian identity and challenged traditional societal norms.
Lastly, Samory Toure (c. 1830-1900) was a prominent West African military leader and the founder of the Wassoulou Empire, which spanned parts of modern-day Guinea, Mali, and Ivory Coast. He fiercely resisted French colonial expansion in the region and is remembered as a symbol of resistance against foreign occupation.
People
Toure + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toure 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
Toure: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toure?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 405 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toure 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 846,307 US residents.
Is Toure a common name?
We classify Toure as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 420 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toure most popular?
The single biggest year for Toure was 2008, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toure is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toure in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 446 people with the name Toure, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,352 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 Toure 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 Toure?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toure leans strongly male. 401 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 37 female bearers (8.4%). 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 Toure?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toure is Black at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Toure most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Toure in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (394 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 Toure in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toure a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toure 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 Toure still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toure 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 Toure 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 are named Toure?
Find out how many people share the name Toure on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.