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Tinsley

#1,112 in 2025Girls' name

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

Tinsley has been given to 4,747 babies in the U.S. since 1982. In 2025 it ranked #1,112 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2020, with 388 recorded.

Babies named Tinsley, 2025

1 in 15,600

Tinsley over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Tinsley: meaning, origin, and history

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

surname transfer

What Tinsley means

Tinsley is a given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From the unattested Old English personal name *Tynni + -s- + lēah (“woodland clearing, glade”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Tinsley is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Tinsley is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,659 girls were recorded with the name Tinsley between 1982 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 388 in 2020; its best national rank was #721 in 2020.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #721 in 2020 to #1,112 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,010 in 2015 to #1,112 in 2025.

In the United States, 88 boys were recorded with the name Tinsley between 1919 and 2017. Its highest annual count was 8 in 1920; its best national rank was #3,073 in 1947.

How common is Tinsley?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 15,600
213 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 7,550
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,112
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
10,789 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Tinsley 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 5003%

Put another way: gather 10,789 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tinsley. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tinsleys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tinsley was born before 2017 — so the typical Tinsley is around 8 today.

Median birth year
2017
About 8 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
56.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
97.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
4,659
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 56.8% of all recorded uses (2,648).

Is Tinsley 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
+261
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−391
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−102
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.80×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
54.9%
Peak was 2020 (388)
Years since peak
5
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
28.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#721
2020

Spellings of Tinsley

Tinsley is not the most common spelling — Kinsley is, with 26.1% against Tinsley's 2.4%.

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 Tinsley is used

Across 2016–2025, Tinsley was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in 1,538 girls, against 1 in 4,918 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

165 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in 1,538
  2. 2Mississippi1 in 1,724
  3. 3Alabama1 in 1,754
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 1,923
  5. 5Louisiana1 in 2,041
  6. 6Oklahoma1 in 2,083
  7. 7Tennessee1 in 2,326
  8. 8South Carolina1 in 2,381

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.

Geographically, Tinsley is one of the more regionally concentrated names in the country — more concentrated than 82% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Tinsley around the world

Where Tinsley 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.

  • Canada
    2011–2023
    #2,672
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    2012–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Tinsley

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

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.

Tinsley by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,112
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 391
Best rank ever
#721
2020
Peak year
2020
388 that year
First recorded
1982
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,659
Count in 2025
213

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,073
1947
Peak year
1920
8 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
2017
All-time count
88
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Tinsley

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

TinleyTinzleyHaisleyBerkleyBentleyBrynleyKinzleyKaisleyWrenleyWhitleyFinnleyKensleyEverleyHartleyHolleyHensleyBradleyHalleyCharleyKenzleyCaileyEnsleyBrinleyBriley

Names with a curve like Tinsley

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

HadleighAvalynnAubriellaHadleeAubrielleItzayanaKarterMalayahCoralineScarletteHarmoniBeatrix

Sibling names for Tinsley

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 Tinsley

Top names of 2020, Tinsley's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2020Girls' names starting with T