Tico
A diminutive Spanish name meaning "little one" or "young one".
Name Census estimates that about 76 living Americans carry the first name Tico. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tico today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tico births was 1977 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tico. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Tico. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
76
~ 1 in 4,509,926 Americans
Peak year
1977
13 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1996 SSA rank
#8,904
Tracked since 1972
Census
Tico in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 205 people with the first name Tico, which placed it at #37,817 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
#37,817
National first-name rank
People counted
205
205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tico
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tico is Black at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and White (8.8%). 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 Tico 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 Tico at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.6% · 112
- Hispanic or Latino24.9% · 51
- White8.8% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 9
- Two or more races3.9% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 7
Popularity
Tico: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tico from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 48 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
Tico 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 Tico 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 Tico
The name Tico has its origins in Spanish and is a diminutive form of the name Francisco. It was derived from the Italian name Francesco, which itself comes from the Latin name Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman" or "free man." The name gained popularity in Spain and its territories during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tico can be found in the 16th century. Tico Brahe, a Danish astronomer born in 1546, was known for his accurate celestial observations and contributions to the scientific revolution. His work paved the way for later astronomers like Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler.
In the 17th century, Tico Polo, an Italian merchant and explorer, is believed to have been one of the first Europeans to travel the Silk Road and reach China. His accounts of his travels, documented in the book "Il Milione," introduced Europeans to the wonders of the Far East and sparked a renewed interest in exploration.
The 18th century saw the rise of Tico Falconi, an Italian painter and architect who played a significant role in the Baroque and Rococo art movements. His masterpieces, such as the frescoes in the Church of Sant'Ignazio in Rome, are celebrated for their intricate details and vibrant colors.
In the 19th century, Tico Carrera, a Chilean military officer and politician, was a key figure in the struggle for independence from Spain. He is remembered for his leadership in the Battle of Maipú and his efforts to establish a stable government in the newly formed nation.
Moving into the 20th century, Tico Torres, the drummer for the iconic rock band Bon Jovi, was born in 1953. His powerful and precise drumming has been a driving force behind the band's success, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest drummers in rock music history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tico
People
Tico + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tico 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
Tico: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tico?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 76 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tico 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 4,509,926 US residents.
Is Tico a common name?
We classify Tico as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 81 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tico most popular?
The single biggest year for Tico was 1977, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tico is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tico in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 205 people with the name Tico, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,817 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 Tico 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 Tico?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tico leans strongly male. 187 people counted with this name were male (93.0%), compared with 14 female bearers (7.0%). 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 Tico?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tico is Black at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.9%) and White (8.8%). 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 Tico most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tico in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.6% (112 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 Tico in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tico a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tico 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 Tico still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tico 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 Tico 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 Tico?
You can see how many people share the name Tico on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.