Tenia
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "tenia" meaning "ribbon".
Name Census estimates that about 893 living Americans carry the first name Tenia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tenia today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tenia births was 1998 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tenia. 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
893
~ 1 in 383,823 Americans
Peak year
1998
38 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2019 SSA rank
#17,722
Tracked since 1918
Census
Tenia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 817 people with the first name Tenia, which placed it at #14,437 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
#14,437
National first-name rank
People counted
817
817 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tenia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenia is Black at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Tenia 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 Tenia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.2% · 549
- White22.2% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 35
- Two or more races4.3% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 8
Popularity
Tenia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tenia from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 203 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tenia 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 Tenia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tenias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tenia
The given name Tenia has its origins in Ancient Greek, where it was derived from the word "tenia" meaning "ribbon" or "headband." This name was prevalent in the region of ancient Greece during the classical period, around the 5th century BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tenia can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentions a woman by this name in his work "The Histories." However, there are no specific details provided about this individual.
In the 3rd century BC, there was a notable Greek woman named Tenia of Cyzicus, who was a philosopher and a follower of the Cynic school of thought. She was known for her unconventional lifestyle and her rejection of societal norms.
During the Byzantine era, around the 6th century AD, there was a saint known as Tenia of Constantinople, who was revered for her piety and charitable works. She is said to have founded a convent and a hospice for the poor in the city of Constantinople.
In the 12th century, there was a prominent Italian noblewoman named Tenia dei Conti, who was a member of the powerful Conti family. She played a significant role in the politics of medieval Italy and was known for her diplomatic skills.
Another notable figure with the name Tenia was Tenia Tsiolkovskaya, a Russian mathematician and educator who lived in the 19th century. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics and was also involved in the education of women in Russia.
While the name Tenia has its roots in Ancient Greek, it has been adopted and used in various cultures throughout history. However, it has never been a widely popular name, and its usage has remained relatively rare.
People
Tenia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tenia 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
Tenia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tenia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 893 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tenia 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 383,823 US residents.
Is Tenia a common name?
We classify Tenia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 981 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tenia most popular?
The single biggest year for Tenia was 1998, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tenia is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tenia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 817 people with the name Tenia, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,437 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 Tenia 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 Tenia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tenia appears almost entirely female. Of the 812 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Tenia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenia is Black at 67.2%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Hispanic (4.3%). 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 Tenia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tenia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (549 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 Tenia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tenia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tenia 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 Tenia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tenia 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 Tenia 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 Tenia?
Want to know how many Americans are named Tenia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.