Tanveer
A masculine given name of Arabic origin referring to the bright light or illumination.
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Tanveer. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Tanveer today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tanveer births was 2015 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tanveer. 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 Tanveer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
2015
16 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,897
Tracked since 1990
Census
Tanveer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 965 people with the first name Tanveer, which placed it at #12,766 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
#12,766
National first-name rank
People counted
965
965 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tanveer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanveer is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Tanveer 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 Tanveer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.4% · 911
- White2.2% · 21
- Two or more races1.8% · 17
- Black or African American0.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Tanveer
Tanveer is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 185 total registrations, 148 (80.0%) were male and 37 (20.0%) were female.
Tanveer as a male name
- Ranked #13,962 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (13 births)
Tanveer as a female name
- Ranked #12,897 in 2015
- 8 female births in 2015
- Peak: 2005 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tanveer on both sides of the split. Of the 965 people counted with this name, 655 were male (67.9%) and 310 were female (32.1%).
Popularity
Tanveer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tanveer from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 81 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
Tanveer 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 Tanveer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tanveers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tanveer
The name Tanveer has its origins in the Persian and Arabic languages. It is derived from the Arabic word "nur," which means "light" or "radiance." The name can be traced back to the 7th century CE, when Arabic culture and language were spreading across the Middle East and parts of Asia.
In Persian literature and poetry, the word "tanveer" is often used to describe the act of enlightenment or illumination, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. It is associated with the concept of spiritual awakening and the pursuit of knowledge.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Tanveer can be found in the works of the renowned Persian poet Rumi, who lived in the 13th century CE. Rumi frequently used the word "tanveer" in his poetry, and it is possible that the name was derived from his writings.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tanveer. One such person was Tanveer Fatima, a prominent Sufi mystic and scholar who lived in the 16th century CE in present-day Pakistan. She was renowned for her spiritual teachings and her contributions to Islamic literature.
Another famous bearer of the name was Tanveer Jehan Begum, a Mughal princess who lived in the 17th century CE. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of various cultural and literary endeavors.
In more recent times, Tanveer Nizam, an Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress party, was a prominent figure in the late 20th century. He served as a member of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) and was actively involved in various social and political movements.
Tanveer Siddiqui, a Pakistani cricket player who represented Pakistan in the 1970s and 1980s, was also a notable bearer of the name. He played as a wicket-keeper and batsman for the national team and was part of the squad that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Lastly, Tanveer Ahmed, a British author and playwright of Pakistani descent, has gained recognition for his works exploring themes of identity, culture, and the immigrant experience. His plays and novels have been widely acclaimed and have received numerous awards and accolades.
People
Tanveer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tanveer 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
Tanveer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tanveer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tanveer 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Tanveer a common name?
We classify Tanveer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tanveer most popular?
The single biggest year for Tanveer was 2015, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tanveer is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tanveer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 965 people with the name Tanveer, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,766 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 Tanveer 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 Tanveer?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tanveer on both sides of the split. Of the 965 people counted with this name, 655 were male (67.9%) and 310 were female (32.1%). 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 Tanveer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tanveer is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Tanveer most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tanveer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.4% (911 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 Tanveer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tanveer a male name?
Yes, 80.0% of people registered as Tanveer in the SSA data are male. 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 Tanveer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tanveer 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 Tanveer 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 Tanveer?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Tanveer at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.