Tunisia
A feminine name derived from the North African country Tunisia.
Name Census estimates that about 542 living Americans carry the first name Tunisia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tunisia today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tunisia births was 1974 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tunisia. 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
542
~ 1 in 632,388 Americans
Peak year
1974
39 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1996 SSA rank
#11,736
Tracked since 1943
Census
Tunisia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 526 people with the first name Tunisia, which placed it at #19,885 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
#19,885
National first-name rank
People counted
526
526 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tunisia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tunisia is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Tunisia 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 Tunisia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.6% · 466
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 23
- Two or more races3.6% · 19
- White2.9% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Popularity
Tunisia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tunisia from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 275 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tunisia 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 Tunisia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tunisias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tunisia, while North Carolina, Georgia, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tunisia
The given name Tunisia is derived from the ancient Berber word 'Tunisiya', which means 'to camp at night.' This name has its roots in the region of North Africa, specifically the area that is now known as Tunisia, a country located on the Mediterranean coast.
The name Tunisia first appeared in historical records around the 9th century AD, when the region was part of the Aghlabid dynasty, a Sunni Muslim dynasty that ruled the area from 800 to 909 AD. During this period, the name Tunisia was used to refer to the region's capital city, which was then known as Tunis.
In ancient times, the region now known as Tunisia was home to various civilizations, including the Phoenicians, Romans, and Vandals. The name Tunisia may have been influenced by these earlier civilizations and their languages, although the exact origins of the name are not entirely clear.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tunisia was Tunisia al-Ziri, a princess of the Zirid dynasty, which ruled parts of North Africa between the 10th and 11th centuries. She was born around 950 AD and was known for her beauty and intelligence.
Another notable figure with the name Tunisia was Tunisia al-Mustazhir, a Fatimid caliph who ruled from 1094 to 1101 AD. He was known for his efforts to strengthen the Fatimid dynasty's control over Egypt and parts of North Africa.
In the 12th century, a Sufi mystic named Tunisia al-Halwaji gained prominence in the region. She was known for her spiritual teachings and influenced the development of Sufism in North Africa.
During the Ottoman Empire's control of the region in the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Tunisia was used by several notable figures, including Tunisia Pasha, a governor of the province of Tunis in the late 16th century, and Tunisia Bey, a ruler of the region in the early 17th century.
In more recent history, Tunisia al-Husayni was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and politician who lived from 1895 to 1974. He played a significant role in the Arab-Israeli conflict and was a prominent figure in the Palestinian national movement.
While these are just a few examples, the name Tunisia has been used throughout history by individuals from various backgrounds and cultures, reflecting the rich heritage and diversity of the region from which the name originated.
People
Tunisia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tunisia 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
Tunisia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tunisia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 542 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tunisia 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 632,388 US residents.
Is Tunisia a common name?
We classify Tunisia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tunisia most popular?
The single biggest year for Tunisia was 1974, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tunisia is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tunisia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 526 people with the name Tunisia, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,885 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 Tunisia 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 Tunisia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tunisia appears almost entirely female. Of the 525 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Tunisia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tunisia is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Tunisia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tunisia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (466 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 Tunisia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tunisia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tunisia 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 Tunisia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tunisia 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 Tunisia 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 have the name Tunisia?
See how many Americans are named Tunisia on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.