Tahja
A feminine name of African origin meaning "she who dances".
Name Census estimates that about 242 living Americans carry the first name Tahja. It is a predominantly female name (94.0% of registrations). The average person named Tahja today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tahja births was 1999 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tahja. 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
242
~ 1 in 1,416,340 Americans
Peak year
1999
38 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2000 SSA rank
#7,331
Tracked since 1990
Census
Tahja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 286 people with the first name Tahja, which placed it at #30,451 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
#30,451
National first-name rank
People counted
286
286 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tahja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tahja is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are White (8.0%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Tahja 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 Tahja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.2% · 235
- White8.0% · 23
- Two or more races5.6% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Tahja
Tahja leans heavily female at 94.0% of total registrations, but 15 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tahja as a male name
- Ranked #7,331 in 2000
- 9 male births in 2000
- Peak: 2000 (9 births)
Tahja as a female name
- Ranked #18,927 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1999 (32 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tahja leans strongly female. 237 people counted with this name were female (84.3%), compared with 44 male bearers (15.7%).
Popularity
Tahja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tahja from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 140 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
Tahja 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 Tahja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tahjas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tahja
The name Tahja originates from the Semitic languages of the Middle East, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is believed to have been derived from the Arabic word "tahara," which means "purity" or "cleanliness." The earliest known records of this name can be traced back to the 7th century, during the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
In Islamic tradition, the concept of purity holds great significance, and names with meanings related to purity or righteousness were often given to children. The name Tahja may have been chosen for its symbolic association with these virtues, reflecting the hopes and aspirations of parents for their child's spiritual growth and moral character.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Tahja was Tahja bint Al-Mundhir, a noble woman who lived in the 7th century and was renowned for her patronage of poets and scholars in the court of the Lakhmid Kingdom in modern-day Iraq.
In the 9th century, Tahja al-Zaynabiyya was a prominent female scholar and poet from Baghdad, celebrated for her contributions to Arabic literature and her expertise in various fields of knowledge.
During the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt and Syria, which ruled from the 13th to the 16th century, there was a prominent military leader named Tahja al-Mansuri, who served as a governor and played a significant role in the expansion and defense of the Mamluk territories.
In the 16th century, Tahja al-Isfahani was a renowned Persian calligrapher and artist, renowned for her mastery of the intricate art of Persian calligraphy and her beautiful illuminated manuscripts.
Another notable figure was Tahja Khanum, a 19th-century Uzbek princess and philanthropist, who founded several schools and hospitals in the region and was known for her charitable works and support for education.
While the name Tahja has ancient roots and historical significance, it remains a relatively uncommon name in modern times, particularly outside of the Middle Eastern and Islamic cultural spheres. However, its meaning and connection to the virtues of purity and righteousness continue to resonate with those who choose this name for their children.
People
Tahja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tahja 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
Tahja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tahja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 242 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tahja 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 1,416,340 US residents.
Is Tahja a common name?
We classify Tahja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 248 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tahja most popular?
The single biggest year for Tahja was 1999, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tahja is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tahja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 286 people with the name Tahja, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,451 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 Tahja 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 Tahja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tahja leans strongly female. 237 people counted with this name were female (84.3%), compared with 44 male bearers (15.7%). 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 Tahja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tahja is Black at 82.2%. The next largest groups are White (8.0%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Tahja most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tahja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.2% (235 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 Tahja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tahja a female name?
Yes, 94.0% of people registered as Tahja 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 Tahja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tahja 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 Tahja 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 common is the name Tahja?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.