Tyee
A Pacific Northwest Native American name meaning "leader" or "chief".
Name Census estimates that about 313 living Americans carry the first name Tyee. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tyee today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyee births was 2005 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyee. 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
313
~ 1 in 1,095,062 Americans
Peak year
2005
24 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2023 SSA rank
#7,684
Tracked since 1976
Popularity
Tyee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyee from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 173 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tyee 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 Tyee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tyees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyee
The name Tyee has its origins in the Chinook Jargon, a trade language that developed among indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest in the early 19th century. It is derived from the Nuu-chah-nulth word "ʔiiy̓aqčɪː," which means "leader" or "chief."
The Chinook Jargon was a pidgin language that emerged as a means of communication between indigenous tribes and European traders, explorers, and settlers in the region. The word "Tyee" was adopted into the Jargon from the Nuu-chah-nulth language and came to be used to refer to leaders, chiefs, or people of importance.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tyee can be found in the journals of Lewis and Clark, the famous American explorers who traveled through the Pacific Northwest in the early 1800s. They often referred to the leaders of the indigenous tribes they encountered as "Tyees."
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the name Tyee gained popularity among non-indigenous settlers in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Washington and Oregon. It was sometimes given as a first name to children, likely as a way to honor the indigenous cultures of the region.
One notable figure with the first name Tyee was Tyee Sampson (1892-1977), a Native American artist and educator from the Yakama Nation. He was known for his vibrant paintings depicting traditional Yakama life and customs.
Another individual with the name was Tyee Yahtin (1891-1977), a well-known Clatsop artist and storyteller who played a significant role in preserving and promoting the culture and traditions of the Clatsop people.
In the world of literature, Tyee Nakata (1909-1994) was a Japanese-American writer and poet who explored themes of identity, discrimination, and cultural assimilation in his works.
Moving to the realm of sports, Tyee Edney (1971-) is a former American professional basketball player who played in the NBA and several international leagues.
Finally, Tyee Williams (1992-) is a contemporary American football player who currently plays as a defensive back in the NFL.
While the name Tyee is not as common today as it once was, it remains a unique and meaningful name with deep roots in the indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest.
People
Tyee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyee 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
Tyee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 313 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyee 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 1,095,062 US residents.
Is Tyee a common name?
We classify Tyee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 318 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyee most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyee was 2005, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyee is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tyee a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tyee 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.
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.