Tyiesha
An African American feminine name of uncertain origins, possibly a fusion variant.
Name Census estimates that about 668 living Americans carry the first name Tyiesha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tyiesha today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyiesha births was 1991 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyiesha. 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
668
~ 1 in 513,105 Americans
Peak year
1991
64 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2006 SSA rank
#17,014
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tyiesha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 544 people with the first name Tyiesha, which placed it at #19,436 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
#19,436
National first-name rank
People counted
544
544 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tyiesha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyiesha is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.9% · 489
- Two or more races4.4% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 20
- White1.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Tyiesha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyiesha from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 344 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tyieshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Tyiesha, while Texas, Maryland, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyiesha
The name Tyiesha has its origins in African American culture, emerging in the late 20th century as a distinct and unique name. It is a combination of syllables from various African and African American names, reflecting the creative practice of coining new names within the community.
The first part of the name, "Ty," is likely derived from the West African name "Tiye," which means "mother" or "governess" in ancient Egyptian. The second part, "esha," may have roots in the Swahili language, where "isha" means "to celebrate" or "to honor." Thus, the name Tyiesha could be interpreted as a celebration or honoring of motherhood or female authority.
While there are no direct historical references to the name Tyiesha in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its components and the tradition of creating new names within the African American community have deep cultural significance. The earliest recorded examples of the name date back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, as it gained popularity among African American families seeking to express their cultural identity and heritage through unique names.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Tyiesha was Tyiesha Burwell, an American track and field athlete who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Another prominent figure was Tyiesha Anderson, an American basketball player who played professionally in the WNBA and overseas from 2004 to 2015.
Tyiesha Morgan, an American singer and songwriter, gained recognition for her work in the early 2000s, contributing to various film and television soundtracks. Tyiesha Cheatham, an American actress, has appeared in several television shows and films since the late 1990s.
Tyiesha White, an American author and motivational speaker, has published several books on personal growth and empowerment, inspiring readers with her life experiences and insights.
The name Tyiesha continues to be a popular choice within the African American community, representing a blend of cultural influences and a celebration of unique identity. It serves as a testament to the rich tapestry of African American naming traditions and the creative expression of heritage through naming practices.
People
Tyiesha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyiesha 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
Tyiesha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyiesha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 668 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyiesha 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 513,105 US residents.
Is Tyiesha a common name?
We classify Tyiesha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 699 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyiesha most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyiesha was 1991, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyiesha is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tyiesha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 544 people with the name Tyiesha, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,436 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 Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyiesha appears almost entirely female. Of the 543 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Tyiesha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyiesha is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Tyiesha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tyiesha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (489 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 Tyiesha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tyiesha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha 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 Tyiesha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Tyiesha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.