Tennessee
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Tennessee
When playwright Thomas Lanier Williams adopted the pen name of Tennessee, he created a new possibility among American place-names, although it's admittedly a bit bulky in size.
Tennessee for boys#7630 US
Reese Witherspoon brought it back into the spotlight when she chose it for her son. While Tennessee's two most famous bearers are male, the name can work equally well for a child of any gender.
Tennessee for girls#4974 US
Young rocker Tennessee Thomas has brought this former one-person name over to the girls' side -- though the census roles of North Carolina in 1850 included a female named Tennessee and called Tincy.
Reese Witherspoon's using it for her baby son brought it back for the boys, though (male) playwright Tennessee Williams is arguably the most famous bearer. Tennessee is an intriguing place name for a person of any gender.
Pronounced ten-uh-SEE.
As of October 2026, Tennessee ranked #7630 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #3868 in 2015.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #3,868 | 28 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #4,308 | 24 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #3,877 | 28 | #4,472 | 32 |
| 2018 | #4,087 | 26 | #4,650 | 30 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | #4,257 | 34 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #4,913 | 20 | #3,872 | 39 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | #4,974 | 27 |
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Tennessee.
Similar boy names
Similar girl names
Tennessee on lists
Famous Tennessees
- Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" WilliamsBoy
American playwright.
- "Tennessee" Ernie FordBoy
American country music singer.
- Tennessee EdwardsBoy
American TV Producer.
- Tennessee James Toth (b. 2012)Boy
son of actress Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth.
- Tennessee Hawkins Church (b. 2015)Boy
son of singer Kenneth Eric Church.
- Tennessee ThomasGirl
American musician and actress
- Tennessee ("Tennie") Celeste ClaflinGirl
American suffragist; sister of Victoria Woodhull and mistress of Cornelius Vanderbilt
- Tennessee WatsonGirl
American artist, independent journalist and educator
- Emily Tennessee Donelson (1807Girl
1836), niece of Rachel Donelson Jackson, the wife of U.S. President Andrew Jackson; served as White House hostess and de facto First Lady of the United States (Rachel died just days after her husband's election and before his inauguration in 1829—therefore she never served as First Lady, a role assumed by Emily)
Tennessee in pop culture
- "Tennessee JedBoy
" Grateful Dead song
- TennesseeBoy
U.S. state