How popular is the baby name Tyneal in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Tyneal.

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Popularity of the baby name Tyneal


Posts that mention the name Tyneal

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

  • (none yet)

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Dec. 2023]

What popularized the baby name Tennille in the 1970s?

music, 1970s, baby name, tennille
Captain and Tennille

The baby name Tennille debuted impressively in the U.S. baby name data in 1975. In fact, it was one of the top debut names of the 1970s overall. It also inspired dozens of variant spellings (even more than Deneen had!):

Name1974197519761977
Tanielle5*.77
Tennille.103*769425
Tenille.18*124107
Taneal.11*9.
Tanelle.5*10.
Tyneal.5*..
Tennile..32*26
Tennelle..20*19
Taneil..14*5
Tenelle..13*8
Tennielle..13*.
Teneil..12*7
Teneal..11*.
Tenile..11*.
Tanille..10*.
Teneille..10*5
Tannille..8*.
Tenneal..8*.
Tennell..8*5
Tenneil..7*.
Tennillie..7*.
Taniel..6*.
Tenniel..6*.
Tinelle..6*.
Taneille..5*.
Teneile..5*.
Tenneill..5*.
Tenneille...5*
Tennill...5*
Tinnelle...5*
TOTAL51421,136629
*Debut

(Tyneal, Tennielle, Tannille, Tenneal, Tennillie, Tinelle, Taneille, Teneile, Tenneill, Tenneille, Tennill, and Tinnelle were one-hit wonders.)

Tennille’s trendiness only lasted a few years, but the name was popular enough to reach the top 1,000 for three years straight in the late 1970s:

  • 1981: 87 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1980: 140 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1979: 113 baby girls named Tennille
  • 1978: 141 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 984th]
  • 1977: 425 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 462nd]
  • 1976: 769 baby girls named Tennille [rank: 300th]
  • 1975: 103 baby girls named Tennille (debut)
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: unlisted

So, where did the name come from?

The musical duo Captain & Tennille, made up of married couple “Captain” Daryl Dragon and Cathryn Antoinette “Toni” Tennille. Their first hit song was the very ’70s-sounding “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which was released in April of 1975 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June.

The band got even bigger in 1976: “Love Will Keep Us Together” won the Grammy for Record of the Year, “Muskrat Love” became their second hit, and they began hosting the weekly Captain and Tennille variety show on television. (It lasted 20 episodes.)

The surname Tennille is probably of French origin. My guess is that it’s a variant of Tenniel, which is thought to derive from the French place name Thénioux.

Do you like Tennille as a baby name? Would you use it? (How would you spell it?)

Sources:

P.S. Did you know that there are two Canadian country singers named Tenille?