Tenoch
A masculine Nahuatl name meaning "fruitful stone" or "stony one".
Name Census estimates that about 261 living Americans carry the first name Tenoch. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tenoch today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tenoch births was 2006 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tenoch. 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
261
~ 1 in 1,313,235 Americans
Peak year
2006
22 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,664
Tracked since 2000
Census
Tenoch in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 190 people with the first name Tenoch, which placed it at #39,614 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
#39,614
National first-name rank
People counted
190
190 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tenoch
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenoch is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.1%). 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 Tenoch 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 Tenoch at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.3% · 183
- White1.1% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
- Two or more races1.1% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Tenoch: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tenoch from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 127 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Tenoch remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tenoch 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 Tenoch during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tenochs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tenoch
The name Tenoch has its origins in the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztec civilization of Mesoamerica. It is derived from the Nahuatl word "tenahuac," which means "near the stone wall." The name likely emerged during the height of the Aztec Empire, which spanned from the 14th to 16th centuries CE.
Tenoch is closely associated with the legendary founding of the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City). According to Aztec mythology, the gods instructed the Aztecs to found their city at the location where they saw an eagle perched on a cactus, devouring a serpent. This prophetic symbol is depicted on the Mexican flag. The city was named Tenochtitlan, after Tenoch, the leader who is said to have witnessed the divine sign.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tenoch was Tenoch, the semi-mythical leader of the Mexica people (who later became known as the Aztecs) during the 13th century CE. He is credited with leading his people to the Valley of Mexico and establishing the foundations of the Aztec Empire.
In the 16th century, during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a prominent figure named Tenoch Camic served as a military leader and advisor to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II. He played a crucial role in the defense of Tenochtitlan against the Spanish forces led by Hernán Cortés.
Another notable individual with the name Tenoch was Tenoch Huerta Muñoz, a Mexican politician and activist who lived from 1890 to 1935. He was a prominent member of the Mexican Communist Party and fought for workers' rights and social reforms.
Tenoch Villa, a Mexican actor born in 1986, is a contemporary figure who has brought renewed attention to the name. He has starred in several critically acclaimed films, including "Huasteca" and "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths," directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
In recent times, the name Tenoch has gained popularity as a given name in Mexico, particularly among those who embrace their indigenous Aztec heritage and wish to honor the historical and cultural significance of the name.
People
Tenoch + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tenoch 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
Tenoch: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tenoch?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 261 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tenoch 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 1,313,235 US residents.
Is Tenoch a common name?
We classify Tenoch as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 263 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tenoch most popular?
The single biggest year for Tenoch was 2006, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tenoch is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tenoch in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 190 people with the name Tenoch, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,614 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 Tenoch 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 Tenoch?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tenoch appears almost entirely male. Of the 185 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Tenoch?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tenoch is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.1%). 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 Tenoch most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Tenoch in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (183 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 Tenoch in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tenoch a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tenoch 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 Tenoch still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tenoch 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 Tenoch 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 have Tenoch as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Tenoch on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.