Tira
Of Italian origin, meaning "she who draws or pulls".
Name Census estimates that about 892 living Americans carry the first name Tira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tira today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tira births was 1971 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tira. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
892
~ 1 in 384,254 Americans
Peak year
1971
45 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2021 SSA rank
#17,457
Tracked since 1951
Census
Tira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 878 people with the first name Tira, which placed it at #13,660 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
#13,660
National first-name rank
People counted
878
878 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tira is Black at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Tira 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 Tira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.9% · 429
- White35.4% · 311
- Two or more races6.3% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 16
Popularity
Tira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tira from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 337 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
Tira 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 Tira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Louisiana, New York recorded the most babies named Tira, while Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tira
The name Tira is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language, which was spoken in ancient India. The name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "tira," meaning "shore" or "bank." This suggests that the name may have been initially associated with people living near rivers or coastal regions.
During the medieval period, the name Tira was found in various Hindu texts and religious scriptures, indicating its usage among the Indian population at the time. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Tira can be traced back to the 7th century AD, where it appeared in an ancient Indian manuscript describing the life of a renowned scholar and poet.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tira. One of the most prominent figures was Tira Bahadur Singh (1765-1839), a Indian ruler who served as the Raja of Bettiah, a princely state in the present-day Indian state of Bihar. He was known for his military prowess and played a significant role in the conflict against the British East India Company.
Another historical figure with the name Tira was Tira Singh Malhotra (1904-1964), an Indian freedom fighter who actively participated in the Indian independence movement against British rule. He was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress and spent several years in prison for his involvement in the freedom struggle.
In the realm of literature, Tira Devi (1890-1980) was a renowned Nepali poet and writer. She is considered one of the pioneers of modern Nepali literature and made significant contributions to the literary scene of Nepal during the early 20th century.
Moving to more recent times, Tira Khanjara (1930-2018) was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was known for her expertise in the Kathak dance form and received numerous awards and accolades for her contributions to the field of Indian classical dance.
Lastly, Tira Ouaga (born 1988) is a professional basketball player from Burkina Faso who has represented her country in international competitions. She has played for various teams across Europe and is considered one of the most talented athletes from her home country.
These examples demonstrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Tira throughout history, spanning various fields such as politics, literature, dance, and sports.
People
Tira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tira 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
Tira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 892 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tira 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 384,254 US residents.
Is Tira a common name?
We classify Tira 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, 979 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tira most popular?
The single biggest year for Tira was 1971, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tira is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 878 people with the name Tira, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,660 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 Tira 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 Tira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tira leans strongly female. 846 people counted with this name were female (96.0%), compared with 35 male bearers (4.0%). 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 Tira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tira is Black at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (35.4%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Tira most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (429 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 Tira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tira 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 Tira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tira 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 Tira 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 Tira?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.