Girls' name · peaked in 1973

Tonya name popularity since 1925

120,849 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Tonya. Half of them were born in 1972 or earlier, so the typical Tonya is about 54 years old in 2026. Tonya peaked in 1973 as the #36 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 120,849; Named Tonya, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1973; #36 for girls that year
Typical age: About 54; Median birth year 1972
In 2025: Not top 1,000; #9,412 for girls in 2025
Girls / boys: 99.6% girls; 120,414 girls · 435 boys
Most popular in: Kentucky; 2.14× its national share

Peak year is the year Tonya made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Tonya births per year, 1925–2025

The biggest year by count was 1972. Measured as a share of all babies, Tonya peaked in 1973.

Fastest rise: Between 1957 and 1962, Tonya became 3.6× more common, from 1 in 3,180 baby girls to 1 in 875.
Steepest fall: Between 1993 and 1998, its share of baby girls fell by 67%, from 1 in 4,190 to 1 in 12,500.

Shaded on the chart. Both compare Tonya's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Tonya.

Decade by decade

Babies named Tonya in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade	Girls	Boys	Rank
1925–29	0	0	–
1930s	123	0	#2,908
1940s	944	0	#748
1950s	4,694	0	#449
1960s	34,072	120	#129
1970s	57,789	258	#45
1980s	17,987	57	#172
1990s	3,664	0	#749
2000s	775	0	#2,341
2010s	279	0	#4,845
2020–25	87	0	#9,412

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

70.2% of babies named Tonya from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:

Where Tonya is most popular

The index compares Tonya's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Tonya.

State	Index	Babies
Kentucky	2.14×	4,277
South Carolina	2.12×	3,541
North Carolina	2.11×	7,117
Tennessee	1.98×	4,969
Arkansas	1.90×	2,332

Other spellings

Spellings that sound like Tonya and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.

Spelling	Girls	Peak year
Tonya (this page)	120,414	1973
Tonia	22,157	1971

Names with a similar story

Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Tonya's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Tonya.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Tonya (1973).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data