Telina
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "telinos" meaning "dill plant".
Name Census estimates that about 254 living Americans carry the first name Telina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Telina today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Telina births was 1969 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Telina. 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
254
~ 1 in 1,349,427 Americans
Peak year
1969
15 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2012 SSA rank
#19,276
Tracked since 1960
Census
Telina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Telina, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Telina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Telina is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Hispanic (9.2%). 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 Telina 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 Telina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.7% · 146
- Black or African American26.8% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino9.2% · 25
- Two or more races7.0% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Telina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Telina from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 92 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Telina 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 Telina 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 Telina
The name Telina has its roots in the ancient Greek language, originating from the word "telos," which means "end" or "purpose." It is believed to have been derived from the feminine form of the name Telemachus, which was a prominent name in Greek mythology, particularly in Homer's epic poem, the Odyssey.
During the classical era, the name Telina was primarily used by Greek families, often given to daughters born as the last child or as a way to signify the completion or fulfillment of the parents' desires for children. It held a symbolic meaning of reaching the intended goal or purpose.
In the Byzantine era, the name Telina gained popularity among Greek Christian communities, with some historical references indicating its use in religious texts and records. One notable figure was Saint Telina of Amastris, a 4th-century martyr from the region of Amastris in modern-day Turkey, who was venerated for her steadfastness in the face of persecution.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Telina can be traced back to ancient Greek inscriptions and historical documents from the 5th century BC. One such example is Telina of Argos, a philosopher and mathematician who lived around 450 BC and was renowned for her contributions to the study of geometry.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Telina. These include:
1. Telina of Syracuse (c. 280 BC), a Greek philosopher and scholar who was a student of Epicurus and wrote extensively on ethics and the pursuit of happiness.
2. Telina of Miletus (c. 150 AD), a renowned Greek physician and herbalist who authored several treatises on the medicinal properties of plants and their use in treating various ailments.
3. Telina of Antioch (c. 300 AD), a Christian martyr who was executed during the Roman persecutions for her unwavering faith and refusal to renounce her beliefs.
4. Telina of Crete (c. 850 AD), a Byzantine poet and scholar who was highly regarded for her lyrical compositions and contributions to the preservation of ancient Greek literature.
5. Telina of Corinth (c. 1200 AD), a celebrated Byzantine artist and fresco painter whose works adorned numerous churches and monasteries throughout the Greek world.
While the name Telina may not be as common today as it once was, its rich historical roots and symbolic meaning continue to captivate those with an appreciation for ancient Greek culture and language.
People
Telina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Telina 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
Telina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Telina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 254 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Telina 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 1,349,427 US residents.
Is Telina a common name?
We classify Telina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Telina most popular?
The single biggest year for Telina was 1969, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Telina is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Telina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Telina, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Telina 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 Telina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Telina leans strongly female. 273 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Telina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Telina is White at 53.7%. The next largest groups are Black (26.8%) and Hispanic (9.2%). 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 Telina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Telina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.7% (146 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 Telina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Telina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Telina 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 Telina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Telina 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 Telina 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 Telina?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Telina at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.