Tennessee
Tennessee is given to both girls and boys: 27 girls and 11 boys were given it in 2025 (#4,973 among girls’ names and #7,626 among boys’, #6,822 among all names counting both); 1,367 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Tennessee by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Tennessee mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Tennessee is “a female given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “winding river” (mean).
From Cherokee ᏔᎾᏏ (tanasi), believed to mean “winding river”.
/ˌtɛnəˈsiː/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Tennessee?
#4,973 among girls’ names, 2025
Tennessee rose from #5,111 in 2015 to #4,973 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 15.1 to 16.8 per million.
60 babies in 2017, the peak
Tennessee peaked in 2017, when 60 babies were given it (32 girls, #4,470 among girls’ names). The 38 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 63% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27 | #4,973 | 11 | #7,626 |
| 2024 | 20 | #6,137 | 11 | #7,699 |
| 2023 | 21 | #5,930 | 16 | #5,887 |
| 2022 | 26 | #5,158 | 18 | #5,410 |
| 2021 | 39 | #3,872 | 20 | #4,911 |
| 2020 | 21 | #5,829 | 17 | #5,424 |
| 2019 | 34 | #4,256 | 18 | #5,316 |
| 2018 | 30 | #4,650 | 26 | #4,083 |
| 2017 | 32 | #4,470 | 28 | #3,873 |
| 2016 | 24 | #5,596 | 24 | #4,309 |
Every recorded year (88)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 27 | #5,111 | 28 | #3,867 |
| 2014 | 24 | #5,613 | 19 | #5,039 |
| 2013 | 19 | #6,699 | 17 | #5,369 |
| 2012 | 16 | #7,765 | 11 | #7,492 |
| 2011 | 12 | #9,670 | 10 | #7,993 |
| 2010 | 10 | #11,175 | 12 | #7,031 |
| 2009 | 7 | #15,094 | 6 | #12,315 |
| 2008 | 6 | #17,310 | 6 | #12,379 |
| 2007 | 11 | #10,760 | 18 | #5,183 |
| 2006 | 10 | #11,347 | 13 | #6,415 |
| 2005 | 10 | #10,845 | 9 | #8,222 |
| 2004 | 10 | #10,616 | 11 | #6,921 |
| 2003 | 8 | #12,312 | under 5 | |
| 2002 | 8 | #12,096 | 5 | #12,299 |
| 2001 | 6 | #15,178 | 9 | #7,442 |
| 2000 | 5 | #17,398 | 5 | #11,948 |
| 1999 | 10 | #9,407 | 7 | #8,612 |
| 1998 | 7 | #12,314 | under 5 | |
| 1997 | 10 | #8,967 | under 5 | |
| 1995 | 6 | #13,247 | 6 | #8,766 |
| 1993 | 5 | #15,590 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 5 | #5,177 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,588 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 5 | #5,015 | under 5 | |
| 1940 | 7 | #3,828 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 6 | #4,201 | under 5 | |
| 1936 | 6 | #4,125 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | 6 | #4,236 | under 5 | |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,788 | under 5 | |
| 1932 | 5 | #5,012 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | 7 | #4,003 | under 5 | |
| 1929 | 7 | #4,007 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 5 | #5,355 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | 5 | #5,527 | under 5 | |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,857 | under 5 | |
| 1925 | 9 | #3,626 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,395 | under 5 | |
| 1923 | 5 | #5,641 | under 5 | |
| 1922 | 10 | #3,348 | under 5 | |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,918 | under 5 | |
| 1920 | 7 | #4,343 | under 5 | |
| 1919 | 12 | #2,791 | under 5 | |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,500 | under 5 | |
| 1917 | 17 | #2,087 | under 5 | |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,356 | under 5 | |
| 1915 | 15 | #2,128 | under 5 | |
| 1914 | 12 | #2,115 | under 5 | |
| 1913 | 6 | #3,141 | under 5 | |
| 1912 | 11 | #1,823 | under 5 | |
| 1911 | 9 | #1,778 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,757 | under 5 | |
| 1909 | 10 | #1,460 | under 5 | |
| 1908 | 9 | #1,532 | under 5 | |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,795 | under 5 | |
| 1906 | 11 | #1,221 | under 5 | |
| 1905 | 7 | #1,677 | under 5 | |
| 1904 | 12 | #1,088 | under 5 | |
| 1903 | 7 | #1,575 | under 5 | |
| 1902 | 13 | #1,015 | under 5 | |
| 1901 | 6 | #1,651 | under 5 | |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,549 | under 5 | |
| 1899 | 9 | #1,171 | under 5 | |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,943 | under 5 | |
| 1897 | 9 | #1,157 | under 5 | |
| 1896 | 11 | #1,039 | under 5 | |
| 1895 | 10 | #1,113 | under 5 | |
| 1894 | 7 | #1,339 | under 5 | |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,630 | under 5 | |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,433 | under 5 | |
| 1891 | 8 | #1,086 | under 5 | |
| 1890 | 9 | #999 | under 5 | |
| 1889 | 5 | #1,461 | under 5 | |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,454 | under 5 | |
| 1887 | 11 | #726 | under 5 | |
| 1885 | 10 | #739 | under 5 | |
| 1884 | 14 | #579 | under 5 | |
| 1882 | 10 | #630 | under 5 | |
| 1880 | 5 | #932 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Tennessee a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,367 Americans recorded as Tennessee, 72% are girls and 28% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Tennessee: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Tennessee, and how old are they?
An estimated 894 Americans named Tennessee and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (65% of everyone recorded); the median is 10 years old and half are between 6 and 17. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 763 people named Tennessee (413 women and girls, 350 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 677 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
More about Tennessee and names like it
- The most given names of the 2010sTennessee peaked in 2017.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Tennessee since 1910.
- The top names of 2017The year the most babies were named Tennessee.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Tennessee alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with TMost given first.