NameCensus.
Very Rare

John Tierney

There are approximately 136 people named John Tierney living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 2,520,252 Americans.

This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name John with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Tierney. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.

Expected bearers

136

1 in 2,520,252

Named John

2.9M

Alive today

Named Tierney

16K

Alive today

US population

343M

Denominator

The first name John

Estimated living: 2.9M

Rarity: Very Common

Gender: Male

Peak year: 1947

Average age: 57

The surname Tierney

Estimated bearers: 16K

Rarity: Uncommon

Census rank: #2,646

Per 100K: 4.61

Top ancestry: White (95.8%)

First name trend

John: popularity over time

Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name John. The peak year was 1947 with 88,524 births. The average person named John today is 57 years old.

Babies born per year

MaleFemale
022K44K66K89K18801900192019401960198020002020

Ethnicity

Ancestry of the Tierney surname

Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Tierney, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 95.8%.

  • White95.8%
  • Hispanic or Latino1.9%
  • Two or more races1.2%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
  • Black or African American0.3%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native0.2%

Methodology

How we calculated this

The first name John has a living-bearer frequency of 0.8581% of the US population, based on 2,941,241 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).

The surname Tierney appears at a rate of 4.61 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0046%.

Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 136 people with the full name John Tierney. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.

Read the full methodology.

Related

Other people named John

Related

Other people with the surname Tierney

FAQ

John Tierney: questions and answers

How many people are named John Tierney?

We estimate approximately 136 people in the United States share the full name John Tierney. That works out to about 1 in 2,520,252 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.8581%) with the surname frequency (4.61 per 100K) against the current US population.

How rare is the name John Tierney?

We classify John Tierney as "Very Rare". About 1 in 2,520,252 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.

Is John a male or female name?

John is predominantly male. Out of 5,196,210 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full John profile for detailed gender data.

Where does this data come from?

First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.

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There are 136 people

with the full name

John Tierney

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