Tillman
Masculine · “farmer”
Tillman is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 3,732 boys against 7 girls since 1880.
Tillman is a German surname whose two readings are quite different — a man who tills the soil, and a short form of Dietrich.
How old is the name Tillman?
Tillman was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Tillman alive today was born around 1943, making them about 82 years old. About 1,800 people named Tillman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tillman most popular?
Tillman peaked in 1891, reaching #397 nationally. Today it ranks #3949, 3,552 places below that high. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Tielmann to Tillman
The story of Tillman
German surnames from occupations and from clipped given names are both common and the two lines are frequently impossible to separate. Tillman and Tillmann reached America with German emigration, particularly to Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. Its use as a given name appears in southern American records from the 1880s, often after a political figure of that surname.
Meaningscholars disagree
farmer; or from Tielmann
One reading takes it from a Low German word for tilling or farming. Another derives it from Tielmann, a German short form of Dietrich, from theuda, a people, and ric, a ruler. Both are held and neither is settled.
How the name formed
- Tielmann
- Tillman
Related forms: Tillmann · Tielman
Pronouncing Tillman
TIL-man
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Tillman
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 boys named
- 191775 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #397reached in 1891
- Change vs 2022
- +22.7%27 in 2025, from 22
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.
Tillman in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tillmann in German — spelling variant
- Tielman in Dutch — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: South Carolina, Arizona, Georgia.
Tillmans among us
people named Tillman are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 63,262 born in 2025 was named Tillman
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
Tillman 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
Where Tillman is headed
Tillman should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Tillman beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tillman in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Two documented German ancestries, occupational and personal.
- Seven letters and two syllables, straightforward to write.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- The Till clip is an ordinary English word with several senses.
- The two possible origins mean quite different things.
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What they receive
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Tillman
Masculine · #3949 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tillmans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,800 people named Tillman are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tillman in 2025?
- Tillman ranks #3949 among US boy names in 2025, with 27 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tillman?
- About 1 in every 63,262 US boys born in 2025 was named Tillman — 27 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tillman with classmates?
- Tillman will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tillman
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stewart#3949 · Ashley#3949 · Alfonzo#3949 · Blane#3949 · Brayton#3949 · Omega#3949 · Graeme#3949 · Rufus#3949
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tillman? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tillman and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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