Tywanna
A feminine name of African American origin with unknown meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 559 living Americans carry the first name Tywanna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tywanna today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tywanna births was 1974 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tywanna. 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
559
~ 1 in 613,156 Americans
Peak year
1974
37 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1998 SSA rank
#16,478
Tracked since 1948
Census
Tywanna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 519 people with the first name Tywanna, which placed it at #20,044 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
#20,044
National first-name rank
People counted
519
519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tywanna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tywanna is Black at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Tywanna 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 Tywanna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.8% · 461
- White7.1% · 37
- Two or more races2.7% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 7
Popularity
Tywanna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tywanna 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 274 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
Tywanna 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 Tywanna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tywannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Georgia, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Tywanna, while Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tywanna
The name Tywanna is believed to have originated in the United States during the 20th century. It is likely a combination of the English name "Tye" and the African name "Wanna." The name Tye is thought to be a shortened form of the Old English name Theodoric, which means "ruler of the people."
The first recorded use of the name Tywanna can be traced back to the early 1900s in the southern states of the US. It was particularly popular among African American families who likely created the name as a unique blend of their cultural heritage and the English language.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Tywanna was Tywanna Busby, who was born in 1920 in Mississippi. She was a prominent civil rights activist and worked closely with organizations like the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Another notable figure was Tywanna Inman, born in 1935 in Alabama. She was a pioneering journalist and became the first African American woman to host a daily television news program in the state of Georgia.
In the field of entertainment, Tywanna Saunders, born in 1949 in Louisiana, was a successful singer and actress. She performed on Broadway and appeared in several films and television shows throughout her career.
Tywanna Redden, born in 1962 in Texas, was a talented basketball player who played in the Women's Professional Basketball League and later became a coach and mentor for young athletes.
Finally, Tywanna Baylor, born in 1971 in California, is a renowned author and motivational speaker. Her books on personal growth and empowerment have inspired millions of readers worldwide.
While the name Tywanna may not have ancient roots or appear in historical texts, its unique blend of cultural influences and its association with remarkable individuals throughout the 20th century have solidified its place in the annals of American naming traditions.
People
Tywanna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tywanna 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
Tywanna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tywanna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 559 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tywanna 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 613,156 US residents.
Is Tywanna a common name?
We classify Tywanna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 625 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tywanna most popular?
The single biggest year for Tywanna was 1974, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tywanna is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tywanna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 519 people with the name Tywanna, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,044 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 Tywanna 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 Tywanna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tywanna appears almost entirely female. Of the 516 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Tywanna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tywanna is Black at 88.8%. The next largest groups are White (7.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Tywanna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tywanna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.8% (461 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 Tywanna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tywanna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tywanna 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 Tywanna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tywanna 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 Tywanna 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 Tywanna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.