How rare is the name Tam?

12,308 people in the United States have the first name Tam, about 1 in 24,539. It ranks #2,164 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

TAM

#2,164

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
12,308
About
1 in 24,539
This common or more
78.8%
Who bears it

Of the 12,308 people named Tam, 90.5% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 5.7% as White and 2% as Black. 50.7% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Tam peaked in 1982, when 64 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19242025
Peak year
1982
Births that year
64
In 2025*
10 ▼84%
Recorded as
used for both

At least 1,889 babies have been given the name since 1924. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Tam by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #3,422. The largest share of babies named Tam, 39.2%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1920s#12,17210
1940s#8,19731
1950s#4,214178
1960s#5,073154
1970s#7,478118
1980s#3,422502
1990s#5,431350
2000s#7,564302
2010s#11,117187
2020s#16,70557
Greatest Generation 1901–270.3%
Silent Generation 1928–450.5%
Baby boom 1946–6417.2%
Generation X 1965–809.8%
Millennials 1981–9639.2%
Generation Z 1997–1223.1%
2013 and later9.9%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Either side of Tam

#2,162 Tyra · 12,317#2,163 Rashad · 12,313#2,165 Jun · 12,305#2,166 Jena · 12,289

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Tam, most common first.

#1,205 Tami · 32,380#3,267 Tan · 6,530#8,948 Tama · 1,588#13,345 Tamy · 908#30,312 Tamu · 288

Also a last name

As a last name, Tam ranks #2,659 of 156,621, with 13,232 people. See Tam as a last name

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