Tapanga
Feminine
Tapanga is a spelling of Topanga, a California canyon name that became a girl's name through a television heroine. It is three syllables with the stress in the middle, bright and unusual.
How old is the name Tapanga?
Tapanga first appears in US birth records in 1995 — 30 years ago. The typical Tapanga alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 500 people named Tapanga are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tapanga most popular?
Tapanga peaked in 1998, reaching #2530 nationally. See the whole 1998 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Tapanga
Topanga Canyon runs from the Santa Monica Mountains down to the Pacific, and its name comes from the Tongva, the people who lived in the Los Angeles basin before the Spanish arrived; what the word meant has been lost. The name reached a whole generation of children through Topanga Lawrence, the quirky, loyal girl on the sitcom Boy Meets World, and families began giving it to daughters. Tapanga writes its first vowel as a, and carries both the canyon and the character.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Topanga is a place-name from the Tongva language of the Los Angeles basin; its exact meaning is not settled, and the popular translations are guesses. Tapanga is a spelling of it.
Pronouncing Tapanga
tuh-PANG-guh
Stress on the middle syllable.
Nicknames for Tapanga
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1995
- Most girls named
- 199854 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2530reached in 1998
- Change vs 2019
- 0.0%6 in 2021, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tapangas among us
people named Tapanga are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Tapanga sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is distinctive and memorable.
- It connects to a real California place with an Indigenous name.
- Many people of a certain age will think of the sitcom character.
- People will write Topanga.
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Tapanga
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Tapangas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Tapanga are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tapanga in 2025?
- Tapanga is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Tapanga with classmates?
- Tapanga will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Teresa#908 · Theresa#1548 · Tiffany#878 · Tammy#3645 · Taylor#403 · Tina#2778 · Tracy#2153 · Thelma#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tapanga? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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