Tyran
A masculine name derived from the Greek word "tyrannos", meaning an absolute ruler or supreme leader.
Name Census estimates that about 2,238 living Americans carry the first name Tyran. It is a predominantly male name (97.6% of registrations). The average person named Tyran today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyran births was 2000 (82 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyran. 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 Tyran with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Tyran is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 56 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,152 Americans
Peak year
2000
82 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,133
Tracked since 1954
Census
Tyran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,704 people with the first name Tyran, which placed it at #8,503 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
#8,503
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,704 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tyran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyran is Black at 76.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.0%) 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 Tyran 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 Tyran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.3% · 1,301
- White12.0% · 205
- Two or more races6.3% · 108
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Tyran
Tyran leans heavily male at 97.6% of total registrations, but 56 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tyran as a male name
- Ranked #6,133 in 2024
- 15 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2000 (82 births)
Tyran as a female name
- Ranked #14,321 in 1999
- 6 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1966 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyran leans strongly male. 1,582 people counted with this name were male (93.1%), compared with 117 female bearers (6.9%).
Popularity
Tyran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyran from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 575 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tyran 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 Tyran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tyrans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Tyran, while Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyran
The name Tyran is believed to have originated from the Greek word "tyrannos," which means "monarch" or "ruler." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was likely used to refer to someone with authority or power.
In ancient Greek mythology, Tyran was the name of a son of Ares, the god of war. This connection to the god of war may have contributed to the name's association with strength and dominance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tyran can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BC. He mentioned a Tyran who was a ruler of the city of Tyre in Phoenicia (modern-day Lebanon).
During the Middle Ages, the name Tyran was occasionally used in various parts of Europe, particularly in areas influenced by Greek culture and language. However, it remained relatively uncommon compared to other names of the time.
The first notable person with the name Tyran was Tyran de Tende, a French nobleman who lived in the 15th century and served as a knight in the court of King Charles VII of France.
Another significant figure named Tyran was Tyran the Younger, a Byzantine nobleman and military commander who lived in the 11th century. He played a crucial role in the wars against the Seljuk Turks and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.
In the 16th century, Tyran Grillo was an Italian painter and engraver who worked in the Mannerist style. He was known for his contributions to the decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
During the 17th century, Tyran Dubois was a French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
One of the more recent historical figures with the name Tyran was Tyran Delgado, a Cuban revolutionary who fought alongside Fidel Castro and Che Guevara during the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s.
While the name Tyran has been used throughout history, it has never been particularly widespread or popular. However, its connection to ancient Greek culture and its association with power and authority have made it a unique and intriguing name choice for some families.
People
Tyran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyran 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
Tyran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyran 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 153,152 US residents.
Is Tyran a common name?
We classify Tyran as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,325 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyran most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyran was 2000, when 82 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyran is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tyran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,704 people with the name Tyran, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,503 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 Tyran 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 Tyran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyran leans strongly male. 1,582 people counted with this name were male (93.1%), compared with 117 female bearers (6.9%). 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 Tyran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyran is Black at 76.3%. The next largest groups are White (12.0%) 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 Tyran most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tyran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.3% (1,301 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 Tyran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tyran a male name?
Yes, 97.6% of people registered as Tyran 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 Tyran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tyran 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 Tyran 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 named Tyran?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.