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Tenzin

#2,254 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Upholder of teachings

Tenzin has been given to 2,906 babies in the U.S. since 1992. In 2025 it ranked #2,254 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2014, with 86 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 57% boys, 43% girls all-time.

Babies named Tenzin, 2025

1 in 52,600

Tenzin over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Tenzin over time

In 2025, Tenzin went to 36% girls and 64% boys.

19922025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Tenzin: meaning, origin, and history

Upholder of teachings

Tibetan

What Tenzin means

Tenzin means “upholder of teachings”.

Origin, language, and formation

Tenzin is used in English. Its origins include Tibetan.

Tenzin comes through Tibetan བསྟན་འཛིན.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Tenzin is pronounced /ˈtɛnzɪn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,653 boys were recorded with the name Tenzin between 1992 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 86 in 2014; its best national rank was #1,762 in 2014.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,232 in 2020 to #2,254 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,908 in 2015 to #2,254 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,253 girls were recorded with the name Tenzin between 1996 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 66 in 2023; its best national rank was #2,670 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,156 in 2020 to #4,060 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,056 in 2015 to #4,060 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Tenzin?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 52,600
63 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 27,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,254
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
36,476 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Tenzin sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 36,476 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tenzin. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tenzins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tenzin was born before 2013 — so the typical Tenzin is around 12 today.

Median birth year
2013
About 12 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
45.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,653
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 45.9% of all recorded uses (758).

Is Tenzin rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+32
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−22
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−346
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.82×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
73.3%
Peak was 2014 (86)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,762
2014

Spellings of Tenzin

Tenzin is not the most common spelling — Tevin is, with 52.3% against Tenzin's 7.4%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Tenzin is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Tenzin was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 16,667 boys, against 1 in 41,632 across all states with data. It was least common in Massachusetts (1 in —).

06 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 16,667
  2. 2New York1 in 20,000
  3. 3California1 in 100,000
  4. 4Connecticut1 in 100,000
  5. 5Colorado1 in —
  6. 6Massachusetts1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Tenzin has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Tenzin is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Tenzin was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 20,000 girls, against 1 in 49,426 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 20,000
  2. 2Minnesota1 in 25,000
  3. 3California1 in —
  4. 4Massachusetts1 in —
  5. 5Wisconsin1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Tenzin has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Tenzin around the world

Where Tenzin ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2003–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • France
    2001–2025
    #1,207
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2001–2024
    #1,037
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1992–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Tenzin by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,254
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 22
Best rank ever
#1,762
2014
Peak year
2014
86 that year
First recorded
1992
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,653
Count in 2025
63

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#4,060
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 96
Best rank ever
#2,670
2023
Peak year
2023
66 that year
First recorded
1996
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,253
Count in 2025
36

Names similar to Tenzin

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

TenochTennysonMazinTenuunTennisTennesseeTengTenzingYazinTennieAtzinTenorTennyKyzinYoltzinTengisTenchiTennisonChozinAmazinTendaiTenleyJayzinTeniola

Sibling names for Tenzin

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Tenzin

Top names of 2014, Tenzin's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2014Boys' names starting with TTibetan Boy NamesTibetan Girl NamesTibetan Names