Recorded 1971–1979 Girls' name Peak 1971 35 births

Thembi — girls' name

35 babies named Thembi in U.S. Social Security records since 1971, with the highest year being 1971. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1970s35
1970s
Peak decade

100% of everyone ever named Thembi was born in this single decade.

1971
Single peak year

10 babies were named Thembi in 1971 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Thembi

The Social Security Administration has registered 35 babies named Thembi between 1971 and 1979, spanning 9 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Thembi currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1979. The name reached its historical peak in 1971, when 10 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Thembi performed strongest in the 1970s, accumulating 35 births during that ten-year window.

No etymological entry is currently available for Thembi in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 35 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Thembi at a glance

Last recorded 1979

Total births

35

Since 1971

9 years of records

Peak year

1971

10 births that year

Strongest decade: 1970s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 1979

Active since

1971

Recorded for 9 years

Last year on file: 1979

Thembi popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1979–1971

Last recorded 1979
Peak year (1971)
10
Annual births at peak — across 9 years of records
4681012 19791974197319721971 10

Thembi by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1970s
Peak decade
1970s
35 births that decade — 100% of Thembi's all-time total
1970s35

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Thembi?
35 babies have been named Thembi since 1971. It was last recorded in 1979. The peak year was 1971 with 10 births.
When was Thembi most popular?
Thembi was most popular in the 1970s decade with 35 total births. The single peak year was 1971.
How long has the name Thembi been used?
Thembi has been recorded in Social Security data since 1971, spanning 9 years of data through 1979.
What names are similar to Thembi?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Theresa, Thelma, Therese, Thea, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1971–1979 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.