Tena
Feminine
Tena is the back of a longer name — Christina, Albertina, Martina — taken as a name of its own, which is how a great many nineteenth-century American girls' names came about.
How old is the name Tena?
Tena was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Tena alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 5,500 people named Tena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tena most popular?
Tena peaked in 1883, reaching #314 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 14,628 places below that high. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Christina to Tena
The story of Tena
The -tina and -tine endings were extremely productive in nineteenth-century Europe, and their final syllables were clipped in speech and then registered outright. Tena appears in American records through the nineteenth century, strongest in Dutch and German settlement areas, and peaked around 1885 alongside Lena, Nena and Rena, which arose the same way.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
A clipping rather than a word, so the meaning depends on the parent. Through Christina it is 'follower of Christ'; through Martina, 'of Mars'; through Albertina, 'noble and bright'. Which parent a given bearer descends from is usually unrecoverable. A Dutch and Frisian Tena also exists independently.
How the name formed
- Christina
- Tena
Related forms: Tena · Tina · Tine
Pronouncing Tena
TEE-nuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Tena and Tina are said identically by most speakers.
Nicknames for Tena
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1960318 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #314reached in 1883
- Change vs 2021
- −54.5%5 in 2025, from 11
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.
Tena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tena in Dutch — same name
- Tina in English — related form
- Tine in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania.
Tenas among us
people named Tena are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Tena
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Tena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Tena beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tena in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Several substantial parent names can claim it, each with a good meaning.
- Four letters, two syllables, and never misheard.
- It has a genuine Dutch and Frisian life of its own.
- Tina is much the commoner spelling of the sound.
- The parent name is genuinely ambiguous.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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Tena
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,500 people named Tena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tena in 2025?
- Tena ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tena?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Tena — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tena with classmates?
- Tena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tena
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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