Tierney

#7,454 in 2025Girls' name

Lord, master

Tierney has been given to 3,979 babies in the U.S. since 1957. In 2025 it ranked #7,454 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1993, with 172 recorded.

Babies named Tierney, 2025

1 in 221,000

Tierney over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Tierney: meaning, origin, and history

Lord, master

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Tierney means

Tierney means “lord, master”, associated with tiarna.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Anglicized from Irish Gaelic Ó Tiarnaigh "descendant of Tiarnach", a diminutive of tiarna (“lord, master”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Tierney (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Tierney is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,956 girls were recorded with the name Tierney between 1957 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 172 in 1993; its best national rank was #1,060 in 1993.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,332 in 2020 to #7,454 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,385 in 2015 to #7,454 in 2025.

In the United States, 23 boys were recorded with the name Tierney between 1976 and 2006. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2006; its best national rank was #6,420 in 1976.

How common is Tierney?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 221,000; 15 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only: 1 in 107,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025: #7,454; of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 153,194 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Tierney sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 153,194 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tierney. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tierneys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tierney was born before 1997 — so the typical Tierney is around 28 today.

Median birth year: 1997; About 28 years old
Biggest decade: 1990s; 30.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 39.6%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 3,956; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1990s — 30.5% of all recorded uses (1,208).

Is Tierney 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: −838; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −4,122; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −4,069; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.31×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 8.7%; Peak was 1993 (172)
Years since peak: 32; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 23.1% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,060; 1993

Spellings of Tierney

Tierney is the most-used spelling, taking 77.7% of the 5,094 babies given a near-identical spelling.

Tierney77.7%3,956
Tiffney22.3%1,138

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 Tierney is used

Across 1910–2025, Tierney was most concentrated in Tennessee — about 1 in 20,000 girls, against 1 in 90,292 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

05 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Tennessee1 in 20,000
2Florida1 in 50,000
3Pennsylvania1 in 50,000
4California1 in 100,000
5Colorado1 in 100,000
6Connecticut1 in 100,000
7Illinois1 in 100,000
8Indiana1 in 100,000

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. Tierney has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Tierney around the world

Where Tierney 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
1996–2021
#5,581
in 2021
Scotland
2000–2023
#749
in 2023
Canada
1991–2012
#2,855
in 2012
South Australia
1986–2000
#727
in 2000

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Tierney

People whose public names include Tierney, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

James Edward Tierney AitchisonPhysician
1836–1898

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Tierney in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Tierney. Linked forms have their own page here.

Turney

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Tierney by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: #7,454
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 4,122
Best rank ever: #1,060; 1993
Peak year: 1993; 172 that year
First recorded: 1957
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 3,956
Count in 2025: 15

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #6,420; 1976
Peak year: 2006; 8 that year
First recorded: 1976
Last recorded: 2006
All-time count: 23
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Tierney

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

Tiera Chesney Vianney Vianey Tierra Daphney Cydney Tiesha Rainey Delainey Destiney Kortney Tieraney Journey Honey Janey Chaney Dalaney Kourtney Tiegan Janney Britney Rooney Melaney

Names with a curve like Tierney

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Tierney, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

Franchesca Jenessa Jessenia Colby Anisha Rebeka Keona Kady Stefany Keyonna Keyana Monet

Sibling names for Tierney

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

For a sister

Jacquelynn Shelbi Shelbie Corrina Nikole Kia Jessenia Kalyn

For a brother

Brandan Coty Samual Garrick Laron Mitchel Bradly Kelsey

Explore around Tierney

Top names of 1993, Tierney's peak year The 1990s in full Other names that peaked in 1993 Girls' names starting with T Irish Girl Names