Tirrell
A masculine name of uncertain origin, possibly Anglicized French or English.
Name Census estimates that about 749 living Americans carry the first name Tirrell. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Tirrell today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tirrell births was 1989 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tirrell. 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
749
~ 1 in 457,616 Americans
Peak year
1989
37 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2021 SSA rank
#3,482
Tracked since 1956
Census
Tirrell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 531 people with the first name Tirrell, which placed it at #19,755 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
#19,755
National first-name rank
People counted
531
531 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tirrell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tirrell is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Tirrell 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 Tirrell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.3% · 437
- White6.6% · 35
- Two or more races6.4% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Tirrell
Tirrell leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 13 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tirrell as a male name
- Ranked #13,886 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1989 (37 births)
Tirrell as a female name
- Ranked #3,482 in 1956
- 13 female births in 1956
- Peak: 1956 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tirrell leans strongly male. 504 people counted with this name were male (95.1%), compared with 26 female bearers (4.9%).
Popularity
Tirrell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tirrell 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 231 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
Tirrell 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 Tirrell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tirrells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Louisiana, New York, Georgia recorded the most babies named Tirrell, while Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tirrell
The given name Tirrell has its origins in the Old French language and is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "tire," which means "to pull" or "to draw," and was likely a occupational surname bestowed upon someone whose profession involved pulling, such as an archer or bowman.
One of the earliest known references to the name Tirrell can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholders in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named Tirrell who held estates in Gloucestershire.
In the 12th century, a Norman knight named Tirrell de Maniers was recorded as a participant in the Third Crusade, which took place between 1189 and 1192. He fought alongside King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, during the campaign to recapture Jerusalem from Saladin.
During the 13th century, a Franciscan friar named Tirrell de Nanterre gained recognition for his religious writings and teachings. He was born around 1220 in the village of Nanterre, near Paris, and his works focused on the virtues of poverty and humility.
In the 15th century, a English composer named Tirrell Stafford contributed to the development of early Renaissance music. Born around 1435 in Salisbury, he was a member of the Eton Choirbook, a manuscript collection of liturgical music from the late 15th century.
Another notable figure with the name Tirrell was a French explorer named Tirrell de Montfort, who was born in 1610 in Normandy. He led several expeditions to the Caribbean and is credited with mapping and charting several islands in the region.
While the name Tirrell has its roots in Old French and was more commonly used in medieval times, it has endured throughout history and continues to be used as a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries.
People
Tirrell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tirrell 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
Tirrell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tirrell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 749 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tirrell 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 457,616 US residents.
Is Tirrell a common name?
We classify Tirrell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 787 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tirrell most popular?
The single biggest year for Tirrell was 1989, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tirrell is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tirrell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 531 people with the name Tirrell, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,755 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 Tirrell 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 Tirrell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tirrell leans strongly male. 504 people counted with this name were male (95.1%), compared with 26 female bearers (4.9%). 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 Tirrell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tirrell is Black at 82.3%. The next largest groups are White (6.6%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Tirrell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tirrell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (437 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 Tirrell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tirrell a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Tirrell 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 Tirrell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tirrell 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 Tirrell 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 common is the name Tirrell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.