Twylla
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "slender" or "willowy".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Twylla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Twylla today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Twylla births was 1967 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Twylla. 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
- • The typical person named Twylla is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Twyllas were born before 1969.
People living today
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
1967
11 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1978 SSA rank
#6,921
Tracked since 1922
Census
Twylla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 235 people with the first name Twylla, which placed it at #34,648 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
#34,648
National first-name rank
People counted
235
235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Twylla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Twylla is White at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Black (14.5%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Twylla 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 Twylla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.3% · 184
- Black or African American14.5% · 34
- Two or more races4.7% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Twylla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Twylla from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 74 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Twylla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Twylla 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 Twylla 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 Twylla
The name Twylla is a relatively modern given name with uncertain origins. It is believed to be a variant or respelling of the Old English name Twila, which itself is derived from the Old English word "twilight."
Twila was a feminine name used in Anglo-Saxon England, particularly during the Middle Ages. It was originally a descriptive name, likely referring to a person born at twilight or with a complexion reminiscent of the twilight hours. The Old English word "twi" meant "double" or "two," while "leoht" meant "light," thus giving rise to the concept of twilight as the period between day and night.
While the name Twila has historical roots, the variant spelling Twylla appears to be a more recent invention, potentially dating back to the late 20th century. It may have been created as a unique or creative twist on the traditional Twila, perhaps to lend it a more distinctive or modern flair.
There are no known historical references or famous individuals specifically named Twylla in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. However, some notable people who bore the name Twila include Twila Paris, an American contemporary Christian music singer and songwriter born in 1958, and Twila Tharp, an American dancer, choreographer, and author born in 1941.
Other individuals with the name Twila throughout history include Twila Wilson, an American television producer and writer known for her work on shows like ER and The Sopranos, and Twila Littleton, an American computer scientist and cryptographer who contributed to the development of secure communication protocols.
While the variant spelling Twylla may be relatively new, it carries the same cultural and linguistic roots as the more traditional Twila, tracing its origins back to the twilight-inspired names of Anglo-Saxon England.
People
Twylla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Twylla 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
Twylla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Twylla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Twylla 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Twylla a common name?
We classify Twylla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 292 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Twylla most popular?
The single biggest year for Twylla was 1967, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Twylla is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Twylla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 235 people with the name Twylla, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,648 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 Twylla 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 Twylla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Twylla appears almost entirely female. Of the 244 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Twylla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Twylla is White at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Black (14.5%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Twylla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Twylla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (184 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 Twylla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Twylla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Twylla 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 Twylla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Twylla 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 Twylla 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 Twylla?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Twylla, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.