Tanaja
Of undetermined origin, potentially a blend of names like Tamara and Nadya.
Name Census estimates that about 270 living Americans carry the first name Tanaja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanaja today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanaja births was 2006 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanaja. 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
270
~ 1 in 1,269,461 Americans
Peak year
2006
25 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2011 SSA rank
#14,695
Tracked since 1988
Census
Tanaja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 238 people with the first name Tanaja, which placed it at #34,342 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
#34,342
National first-name rank
People counted
238
238 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanaja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanaja is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and White (3.4%). 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 Tanaja 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 Tanaja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American87.8% · 209
- Two or more races5.5% · 13
- White3.4% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Tanaja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanaja from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 157 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
Tanaja 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 Tanaja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanaja
The name Tanaja is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which was an ancient Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "tana," which means "body" or "form," and "ja," which means "born" or "created." Together, the name can be interpreted as "born with a beautiful form" or "created with a beautiful body."
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, there are references to the name Tanaja being used as a feminine name, often associated with goddesses or female deities celebrated for their beauty and grace. However, historical records indicating the earliest documented use of the name are scarce, as many ancient Sanskrit texts and records have been lost or damaged over time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tanaja was a Hindu queen who lived in the 7th century CE in the Chalukya dynasty, which ruled parts of present-day Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in southern India. Queen Tanaja was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of Hindu temples and religious institutions.
Another notable figure with the name Tanaja was a 10th-century Hindu poetess and scholar from the Chola kingdom in present-day Tamil Nadu, India. She was renowned for her contributions to Tamil literature and her expertise in Sanskrit language and philosophy.
In the 16th century, there was a Rajput princess named Tanaja who was celebrated for her beauty and courage. She was known for her involvement in battles and her skill in horseback riding, which was uncommon for women of her time.
During the Mughal Empire in the 17th century, there was a renowned courtesan and dancer named Tanaja who was a favorite in the court of Emperor Jahangir. She was praised for her grace, beauty, and talent in the performing arts.
In more recent times, there was a 19th-century Bengali writer and poet named Tanaja Devi, who was known for her contributions to Bengali literature and her advocacy for women's education and empowerment.
While the name Tanaja has its roots in Sanskrit and ancient Hindu culture, it has been adopted by various communities across South Asia and beyond, with its meaning and significance evolving over time.
People
Tanaja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanaja 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
Tanaja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanaja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanaja 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 1,269,461 US residents.
Is Tanaja a common name?
We classify Tanaja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 276 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanaja most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanaja was 2006, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanaja is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanaja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 238 people with the name Tanaja, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,342 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 Tanaja 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 Tanaja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanaja appears almost entirely female. Of the 232 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 Tanaja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanaja is Black at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.5%) and White (3.4%). 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 Tanaja most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tanaja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (209 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 Tanaja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanaja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanaja 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 Tanaja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanaja 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 Tanaja 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 share the name Tanaja?
Want to know how many people share the name Tanaja? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.