Tikia
A feminine given name of Hawaiian origin meaning "top" or "summit".
Name Census estimates that about 239 living Americans carry the first name Tikia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tikia today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tikia births was 1983 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tikia. 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
239
~ 1 in 1,434,119 Americans
Peak year
1983
22 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2001 SSA rank
#17,770
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tikia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 229 people with the first name Tikia, which placed it at #35,223 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
#35,223
National first-name rank
People counted
229
229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tikia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tikia is Black at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Tikia 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 Tikia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.7% · 210
- White2.6% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 5
- Two or more races2.2% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Tikia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tikia from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tikia 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 Tikia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tikias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tikia
The name Tikia has its roots in the Tongan language, spoken primarily in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga located in the southern Pacific Ocean. The name is believed to have originated sometime during the 16th century, although its exact origins remain uncertain. Linguists suggest that Tikia may be derived from the Tongan word "tika," which means "correct" or "proper."
In ancient Tongan culture, names were carefully chosen to reflect the hopes and aspirations that parents had for their children. The name Tikia was often bestowed upon newborns with the intention of invoking a sense of righteousness, integrity, and moral uprightness in their lives.
The earliest recorded mention of the name Tikia can be found in the oral traditions and genealogies passed down through generations of Tongan families. However, there are no known references to this name in ancient texts or religious scriptures from the region.
One of the earliest documented individuals to bear the name Tikia was a Tongan chief who lived in the late 17th century. His name was Tikia Fisi, and he was renowned for his leadership and diplomacy in navigating inter-island conflicts within the Tongan archipelago.
Another notable figure was Tikia Kaumualii, a Hawaiian chieftess who lived in the late 18th century. She was renowned for her skill in traditional Hawaiian chant and her deep knowledge of ancestral lineages.
In the 19th century, Tikia Levuka was a prominent Fijian chief who played a pivotal role in the cession of Fiji to the British Empire in 1874. He was praised for his wisdom and foresight in ensuring a peaceful transition of power.
Tikia Tonga was a celebrated Tongan poet and storyteller who lived in the early 20th century. Her works were instrumental in preserving and passing down the rich cultural heritage and oral traditions of her people.
Lastly, Tikia Vainikolo was a renowned Fijian educator who dedicated her life to improving educational opportunities for children in remote villages throughout the Fiji Islands. She was born in 1924 and received numerous accolades for her tireless efforts.
People
Tikia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tikia 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
Tikia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tikia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tikia 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 1,434,119 US residents.
Is Tikia a common name?
We classify Tikia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 254 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tikia most popular?
The single biggest year for Tikia was 1983, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tikia 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 Tikia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 229 people with the name Tikia, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,223 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 Tikia 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 Tikia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tikia appears almost entirely female. Of the 223 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Tikia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tikia is Black at 91.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.2%). 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 Tikia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tikia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.7% (210 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 Tikia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tikia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tikia 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 Tikia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tikia 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 Tikia 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 Americans are named Tikia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.