Tanja
Feminine diminutive form of Russian/Slavic origin derived from Tatyana, meaning "fairy queen".
Name Census estimates that about 2,234 living Americans carry the first name Tanja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tanja today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanja births was 1970 (153 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanja. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tanja with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,426 Americans
Peak year
1970
153 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2007 SSA rank
#15,319
Tracked since 1943
Census
Tanja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,006 people with the first name Tanja, which placed it at #4,588 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
#4,588
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
4,006 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanja is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Tanja 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 Tanja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 3,134
- Black or African American13.1% · 525
- Two or more races4.9% · 196
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 104
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 17
Popularity
Tanja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanja from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 951 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
Tanja 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 Tanja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tanjas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Tanja, while Oregon, Maryland, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanja
The name Tanja originates from the Russian language and is a diminutive form of the feminine name Tatiana. It first emerged as a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and neighboring Slavic countries, during the Middle Ages.
The name Tatiana itself is derived from the ancient Roman family name Tatius, which is believed to have originated from the Sabine-Italic word "tata," meaning "father." It gained widespread popularity after the 3rd century AD, when a Christian martyr named Tatiana was venerated for her steadfast faith and courage in the face of persecution.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tanja can be found in the Russian epic poem "The Tale of Igor's Campaign," written in the 12th century. In this literary work, a character named Tanja is mentioned, demonstrating the use of the name during the Kievan Rus' period.
Over the centuries, several notable women have borne the name Tanja, including Tanja Frieden (1976-), a Swiss film director and screenwriter known for her work in the German-language film industry. Another notable figure is Tanja Valković (1979-), a Croatian singer and songwriter who has represented her country at the Eurovision Song Contest.
In the world of sports, Tanja Szewczenko (1977-) is a German former professional tennis player who achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 9 in the world. Tanja Gräff (1940-2022) was a renowned German ballet dancer and choreographer who served as the director of the Berlin State Ballet from 1977 to 1990.
Tanja Savić (1981-) is a Serbian writer and journalist who has published several critically acclaimed novels and short story collections, addressing themes of identity, memory, and the complexities of modern life.
While the name Tanja has its roots in Eastern Europe, it has gained popularity worldwide, particularly in Western European countries and North America. However, its historical origins and cultural significance remain closely tied to the Slavic regions where it first emerged as a beloved and widely used name.
People
Tanja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanja 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
Tanja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanja 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 153,426 US residents.
Is Tanja a common name?
We classify Tanja as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,580 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanja most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanja was 1970, when 153 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanja is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,006 people with the name Tanja, or 1.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,588 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 Tanja 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 Tanja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tanja appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,010 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 Tanja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanja is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (13.1%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Tanja most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tanja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (3,134 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 Tanja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tanja 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 Tanja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanja 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 Tanja 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 called Tanja?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.