Tuck
An English masculine name derived from a diminutive of the name Tucker.
Name Census estimates that about 277 living Americans carry the first name Tuck. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tuck today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tuck births was 2013 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tuck. 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
277
~ 1 in 1,237,380 Americans
Peak year
2013
29 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,411
Tracked since 1925
Census
Tuck in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 413 people with the first name Tuck, which placed it at #23,623 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
#23,623
National first-name rank
People counted
413
413 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tuck
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuck is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.3%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Tuck 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 Tuck at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.3% · 274
- Asian and Pacific Islander20.3% · 84
- Black or African American5.1% · 21
- Two or more races4.1% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 7
Popularity
Tuck: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tuck from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 173 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tuck remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tuck 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 Tuck during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tucks live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tuck
The name Tuck is believed to have originated as a nickname derived from the Old English word "tucian," which means "to torment" or "to punish." This nickname was likely given to individuals who were perceived as mischievous or troublesome. The name's roots can be traced back to England in the early medieval period, around the 7th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tuck appears in the late 12th century in the famous folklore tale of Robin Hood. In this story, Friar Tuck is a jovial and corpulent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men, known for his love of food and drink. While the historical accuracy of the character is debated, the inclusion of the name in this enduring legend suggests its usage during that time period.
In the 13th century, the name Tuck can be found in various historical records, such as the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which were administrative records compiled during the reign of King Edward I. These records document individuals with surnames derived from nicknames like Tuck, indicating its continued use as a given name.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Tuck was Sir Tuck de Somerville, a 14th-century English knight who fought in the Hundred Years' War. Born around 1320, he participated in several significant battles, including the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the Siege of Calais in 1347.
Another famous bearer of the name was Tuck Redding, an American singer-songwriter born in 1940 and known for his soulful voice and hits like "Respect" and "I've Been Loving You Too Long." Redding tragically died in a plane crash in 1967 at the age of 26, but his music left an indelible mark on the world of rhythm and blues.
In the field of literature, Tuck Everlasting is the title of a beloved children's novel written by Natalie Babbitt and published in 1975. The story centers around a family named the Tucks, who have discovered the secret to eternal life. The name Tuck in this context adds a whimsical and timeless quality to the characters.
While the name Tuck has fallen out of fashion in recent times, its historical significance and literary associations have ensured that it maintains a place in the collective cultural consciousness, serving as a reminder of its enduring legacy.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tuck
People
Tuck + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tuck 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
Tuck: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tuck?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 277 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tuck 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 1,237,380 US residents.
Is Tuck a common name?
We classify Tuck as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 284 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tuck most popular?
The single biggest year for Tuck was 2013, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tuck is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tuck in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 413 people with the name Tuck, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,623 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 Tuck 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 Tuck?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tuck leans strongly male. 396 people counted with this name were male (95.4%), compared with 19 female bearers (4.6%). 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 Tuck?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuck is White at 66.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.3%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Tuck most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tuck in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (274 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 Tuck in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tuck a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tuck 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 Tuck still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tuck 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 Tuck 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 Tuck?
Find out how many people have the name Tuck on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.