Tennie vs Tennille
American parents have registered 2,796 Tennies since 1880, against 2,199 Tennilles. But in 2025 it was Tennille that was commoner, 5 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Tennie Tennille
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 128 years in which either name was published, Tennie for 94 years and Tennille for 34 years. The lead changed hands once.
Side by side
| Tennie | Tennille | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,796 | 2,199 |
| Most in one year | 79 | 777 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 440 | 2,100 |
| Median age today | 70 | 48 |
| Peak year | 1918 | 1976 |
| Best rank | 843rd girls | 300th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 14,942nd |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1975 |
| Girls / boys | 2,777 / 19 | 2,184 / 15 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Tennies alive today are over 70; half the Tennilles are over 48. That is 22 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Tennie Tennessee (17.2×), Arkansas (7.6×), Texas (4.4×)
- Tennille Utah (3.5×), Illinois (1.8×), Maryland (1.7×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Tennie and Tennille.