Tulip
A feminine name derived from the flower with the same name.
Name Census estimates that about 280 living Americans carry the first name Tulip. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tulip today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tulip births was 2018 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tulip. 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
280
~ 1 in 1,224,123 Americans
Peak year
2018
32 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,756
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Tulip: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tulip from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 143 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
Tulip 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 Tulip during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tulips live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tulip
The given name Tulip is derived from the Persian word "tulipan," which refers to the popular flowering plant that originated in the Ottoman Empire, now modern-day Turkey. The tulip flower was highly prized in the 16th century and became a symbol of wealth and status during the Dutch Golden Age.
While the name Tulip is not commonly used as a first name, it has been recorded in various cultures and time periods. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the writings of the 17th-century Dutch botanist Carolus Clusius, who is credited with introducing the tulip to Western Europe.
In literature, the name Tulip appears in the novel "The Black Tulip" by Alexandre Dumas, published in 1850. The story revolves around a fictional tulip bulb and the obsession of horticulturists during the Dutch Tulip Mania in the 17th century.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tulip was Tulip Monteith, a Scottish woman born in 1856. She was a notable figure in the women's suffrage movement and campaigned for women's rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable individual was Tulip Fever, an American painter and illustrator born in 1909. She was known for her vibrant and colorful paintings that often featured floral motifs, including the tulip flower.
In the world of music, Tulip Mania was the stage name of an American singer-songwriter born in 1968. She gained recognition for her unique blend of folk and alternative rock music, and her album "Tulip Fever" was critically acclaimed in the 1990s.
Tulip Mazumdar, born in 1922, was an Indian freedom fighter and political activist who fought against British colonial rule. She was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress and played a significant role in the struggle for India's independence.
Another noteworthy figure was Tulip Chishi, a Tibetan Buddhist nun and activist born in 1976. She advocated for the rights of Tibetan refugees and worked to preserve Tibetan culture and traditions in the face of Chinese oppression.
People
Tulip + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tulip 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
Tulip: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tulip?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 280 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tulip 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 1,224,123 US residents.
Is Tulip a common name?
We classify Tulip as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 282 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tulip most popular?
The single biggest year for Tulip was 2018, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tulip is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tulip a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tulip 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.