Name Awesome

Tu

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Chart, map

Tu has been given to 427 babies in the U.S. since 1978. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1987, with 25 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 73% boys, 27% girls all-time.

Babies named Tu, 2011

1 in 610,000

Tu over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010203018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2018, Tu went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19782018

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.

Tu: meaning, origin, and history

Chart, map

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Tu means

Tu means “chart, map”.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Tu is used in Chinese.

Another recorded pronunciation is /tʰu/ for Tu.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 313 boys were recorded with the name Tu between 1978 and 2011. Its highest annual count was 25 in 1987; its best national rank was #2,325 in 1987.

In the United States, 114 girls were recorded with the name Tu between 1978 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 13 in 1990; its best national rank was #6,195 in 1983.

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.

How common is Tu?

Tu had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2011, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2011
1 in 610,000
6 of 3,657,935 births
Among boys only
1 in 317,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2011
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
422,582 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Tu 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 2011 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 422,582 children born in 2011 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tu. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Tus were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tu was born before 1988 — so the typical Tu is around 37 today.

Median birth year
1988
About 37 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
53.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
58.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
313
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 53.0% of all recorded uses (166).

Is Tu 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1987 (25)
Years since peak
38
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,325
1987

Where Tu is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Tu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 426,336 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 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. Tu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Tu is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Tu was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,231,752 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 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. Tu has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Tu around the world

Where Tu 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.

  • South Australia
    1979–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Tu by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,325
1987
Peak year
1987
25 that year
First recorded
1978
Last recorded
2011
All-time count
313
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,195
1983
Peak year
1990
13 that year
First recorded
1978
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
114
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Tu

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

TuckTuviaTuffTungTullyTupacTulioTudorBatuTufTugTunisTuanTulsenTurkiTurhanTusharTurkTuronTuiTullioStuTueTuang

Sibling names for Tu

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 Tu

Top names of 1987, Tu's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1987Boys' names starting with T