Tamela
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "date palm" or "tall palm tree".
Name Census estimates that about 6,083 living Americans carry the first name Tamela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamela today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamela births was 1959 (390 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamela. 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
6.1K
~ 1 in 56,346 Americans
Peak year
1959
390 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,473
Tracked since 1947
Census
Tamela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,440 people with the first name Tamela, which placed it at #3,009 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
#3,009
National first-name rank
People counted
7.4K
7,440 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamela is White at 71.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Tamela 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 Tamela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.8% · 5,343
- Black or African American22.6% · 1,685
- Two or more races3.3% · 248
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 89
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 24
Popularity
Tamela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamela from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 3,436 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamela 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 Tamela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tamelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Ohio, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tamela, while Oregon, Maine, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 152 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamela
The name Tamela is a feminine given name of English origin. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "tamel," meaning "tame" or "gentle." The name was likely bestowed upon individuals with a calm and mild temperament.
In the Middle Ages, the name Tamela was occasionally recorded in various regions of England. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Tamela of Essex, who lived in the 12th century. She was a noblewoman known for her charitable works and kindness towards the less fortunate.
During the Renaissance period, the name Tamela gained some popularity among the English gentry. Tamela Neville, born in 1523, was a prominent figure at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. She was renowned for her intellect and her skills as a poet and translator.
In the 17th century, Tamela Wardour (1602-1678) was a noted herbalist and apothecary in London. Her extensive knowledge of medicinal plants and natural remedies earned her the respect of many physicians of the time.
The name Tamela also found its way into literature. In the 18th century novel "The Vicar of Wakefield" by Oliver Goldsmith, one of the central characters is named Tamela Primrose, who is portrayed as a virtuous and gentle young woman.
Another notable bearer of the name was Tamela Lovelace (1775-1851), an English artist and portrait painter. Her works were highly regarded, and she was commissioned by numerous aristocratic families to capture their likenesses on canvas.
While the name Tamela has never been among the most popular names in English-speaking countries, it has been carried by several noteworthy individuals throughout history, reflecting its gentle and serene connotations.
People
Tamela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamela 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
Tamela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,083 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamela 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 56,346 US residents.
Is Tamela a common name?
We classify Tamela as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,187 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamela most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamela was 1959, when 390 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamela is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,440 people with the name Tamela, or 2.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,009 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 Tamela 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 Tamela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamela appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,444 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Tamela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamela is White at 71.8%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Tamela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.8% (5,343 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 Tamela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamela 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 Tamela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamela 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 Tamela 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 Tamela?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.