Tyrone
An Irish or Gaelic name possibly meaning "territory holder" or "highest king".
Name Census estimates that about 69,689 living Americans carry the first name Tyrone. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Tyrone today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyrone births was 1970 (2,561 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyrone. 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 Tyrone with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Tyrone is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 709 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1970s, recent registration numbers for Tyrone have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
70K
~ 1 in 4,918 Americans
Peak year
1970
2,561 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,333
Tracked since 1914
Census
Tyrone in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 50,648 people with the first name Tyrone, which placed it at #894 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
#894
National first-name rank
People counted
51K
50,648 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
16.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tyrone
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyrone is Black at 81.7%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Tyrone 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 Tyrone at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.7% · 41,369
- White8.1% · 4,089
- Two or more races4.2% · 2,141
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 1,697
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 694
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 658
Gender
Gender distribution for Tyrone
Out of the 80,012 babies given the name Tyrone since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Tyrone as a male name
- Ranked #1,333 in 2024
- 144 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (2,530 births)
Tyrone as a female name
- Ranked #15,776 in 1996
- 5 female births in 1996
- Peak: 1970 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyrone appears almost entirely male. Of the 50,642 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Tyrone: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyrone from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 18,153 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
Tyrone 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 Tyrone during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tyrones live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Tyrone, while Montana, Alaska, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,655 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyrone
The name Tyrone originates from the Irish Gaelic language and is derived from the words "Tír" meaning "land" and "Eoghain" meaning "descendant of Eoghan". It was initially used as a territorial designation for the region of what is now County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
According to historical records, the name Tyrone first appeared in the 12th century when the Kingdom of Tír Eoghain was established in the northern part of Ireland. This kingdom was ruled by the O'Neill dynasty, whose members were descendants of the legendary Irish king Niall Noígiallach.
One of the earliest documented uses of the name Tyrone can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. The annals mention a figure named "Tír Eoghain" in the year 1176, referring to the territory that would later become known as County Tyrone.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Tyrone. One of the most famous was Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone (1550-1616), a prominent Irish chieftain who led the Nine Years' War against English rule in Ireland. He was a skilled military leader and played a significant role in the Irish resistance against English colonization.
Another historical figure with the name Tyrone was Sir Tyrone Tresham (1543-1605), an English Roman Catholic who was involved in the Gunpowder Plot against King James I. Although the plot failed, Tresham's involvement and subsequent imprisonment made him a notable figure in English history.
In the 18th century, Sir Tyrone Power (1797-1841) was an Irish comedian, actor, and theatre manager who gained fame for his performances in London and Paris. He is considered one of the most celebrated Irish actors of his time.
In the realm of literature, Tyrone Guthrie (1900-1971) was a renowned English director and founder of the Stratford Festival in Canada, which became one of the most prestigious Shakespeare festivals in the world.
Tyrone Power (1914-1958) was an American actor, known for his roles in classic films such as "The Mark of Zorro" and "The Razor's Edge". He was a popular leading man during the Golden Age of Hollywood and remains a notable figure in cinema history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tyrone
People
Tyrone + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyrone 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
Tyrone: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyrone?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 69,689 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyrone 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 4,918 US residents.
Is Tyrone a common name?
We classify Tyrone as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 80,012 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyrone most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyrone was 1970, when 2,561 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyrone is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tyrone in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 50,648 people with the name Tyrone, or 16.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #894 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 Tyrone 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 Tyrone?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyrone appears almost entirely male. Of the 50,642 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Tyrone?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyrone is Black at 81.7%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Tyrone most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tyrone in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (41,369 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 Tyrone in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tyrone a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Tyrone 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 Tyrone still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tyrone 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 Tyrone 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 Tyrone?
See how many Americans are named Tyrone on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.