Tawana
Feminine
Tawana pairs one of the standard American prefixes with one of the standard endings. Ta- opens a long list and -ana closes a longer one, and the two combine without either bringing a meaning. There is a real word close to it — the Tswana are a people of southern Africa — and the resemblance is a coincidence rather than a source.
How old is the name Tawana?
Tawana first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Tawana alive today was born around 1975, making them about 50 years old. About 6,100 people named Tawana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tawana most popular?
Tawana peaked in 1974, reaching #484 nationally. See the whole 1974 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Tawana
The value of describing these names accurately is that the accurate description is more interesting than the invented one. American combination naming has a fixed inventory and clear constraints on how the pieces join, which is why a speaker inside the tradition can tell a well-formed name from an impossible one without being able to say why. Tawana is well formed. It sounds established on first hearing, and it belongs to one person rather than to a lineage, which was the point of building it that way.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Neither half of this name carries content. Ta- is a component chosen for sound, and -ana is a familiar ending shared with Diana, Juana and a hundred American formations. The Tswana are the majority people of Botswana, whose country's name means land of the Tswana, and the word has a real meaning in a real language — but nothing connects it to this name beyond three letters in the same order, and offering it as an origin would be inventing a history.
Pronouncing Tawana
tuh-WAH-nuh
tuh-WAH-nuh, three syllables, stress in the middle, the first vowel almost swallowed. Some say tuh-WAN-uh with a shorter middle vowel. Both are heard and the spelling settles neither.
Nicknames for Tawana
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
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 1976357 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #484reached in 1974
- Change vs 2007
- 0.0%5 in 2011, from 5
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.
Tawanas among us
people named Tawana 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
Tawana 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 said correctly on first sight, which many assembled names are not.
- Wana and Ana are both usable short forms and they sound quite different.
- Three syllables with a clear middle stress, which balances a short surname.
- Tawanna, Tawanda and Twana are all close enough to be substituted.
- There is no documented meaning, which is worth deciding how to talk about in advance.
- The prefix and ending together place the name in a particular stretch of the last century.
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Tawana
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Tawanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,100 people named Tawana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tawana in 2025?
- Tawana is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Tawana with classmates?
- Tawana 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 Tawana? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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