ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1978 First Year 2001 Last Year 1991 Peak Year #10271 Peak Rank 53 Total Count 9 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Tahina What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment made from ground sesame seeds. The most common variety comes from hulled seeds, but unhulled ones can also be used; the latter variety is slightly bitter, but more nutritious. The seeds are more commonly roasted than raw. Tahini can be served by itself, made into a salad dressing, or used as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, or halva. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini) 📜Etymology Tahini is of Arabic origin and comes from a colloquial Levantine Arabic pronunciation of ṭaḥīna ( طحينة ), or more accurately ṭaḥīniyya ( طحينية ), whence also English "tahina" and Hebrew ṭḥina טחינה . It is derived from the Classical Arabic root ط ح ن Ṭ-Ḥ-N , which as a verb طحن ṭaḥana means "to grind", and also produces the word طحين ṭaḥīn , "flour" in some dialects . The word tahini had appeared in English by the late 1930s. In earlier English-language sources, it is referred to as "sesame butter" or "sesame seed butter". 🏛️Origin & history The oldest mention of sesame is in a cuneiform document written 4,000 years ago that describes the custom of serving the gods sesame wine. Historian Herodotus writes about the cultivation of sesame 3,500 years ago in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). It was mainly used as a source of oil . In the 10th-Century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh , a recipe for ground sesame is mentioned, recipes call for its use as condiment or to be eaten with bread. Tahini is mentioned as an ingredient of hummus kasa , a recipe transcribed in an anonymous 13th-century Arabic [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Tahina](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Tahina.JPG/330px-Tahina.JPG)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tahini) 📖 ## The Story of Tahina The earliest SSA record of Tahina as a baby girl name dates back to 1978, when 5 babies received it. 1991 was its biggest year on record, with 7 newborns named Tahina — #10,271 in the national rankings. About 47% of every Tahina on record arrived during the 1990s, its defining decade. Tahina last appeared in the published SSA data in 2001, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 53 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1970s to the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🎶 ## Names that sound like Tahina Phonetically similar names — useful when Tahina is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * Tahini * [Tashina](/tashina) * [Tawana](/tawana) * [Tawanna](/tawanna) * Tagine * [Taino](/taino) * Tajine * [Terina](/terina) * Tocino * Tanana * Tajima * Tehama Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Tahina What does the name Tahina mean? Tahini is a Middle Eastern condiment made from ground sesame seeds. The most common variety comes from hulled seeds, but unhulled ones can also be used; the latter variety is slightly bitter, but more nutritious. The seeds are more commonly roasted than raw. Tahini can be served by itself, made into a salad dressing, or used as a major ingredient in hummus, baba ghanoush, or halva. How popular is Tahina in 2026? In 2026, Tahina ranks #13,520 among girls' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year. When was Tahina most popular? Tahina reached its peak popularity in 1991, ranking #10,271 that year with 7 babies given the name. Is Tahina a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Tahina is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Tahina? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Tahina include Jalinda, Adrin, Daedra. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧JalindaPeak #10271](/jalinda)[👧AdrinPeak #10271](/adrin)[👧DaedraPeak #10271](/daedra)[👧HakimaPeak #10271](/hakima)[👧MarianthiPeak #10271](/marianthi)[👧NilajaPeak #10271](/nilaja)[👧BrittinaPeak #10271](/brittina)[👧ClanceyPeak #10271](/clancey) ## About the name Tahina Tahina is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1978 and has accumulated 53 births in the dataset. Tahina's peak popularity came in 1991 when it ranked #10,271\. Use the chart and map above to compare Tahina's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1991 → ](/year/1991) * [ Names of the 1990s → ](/decade/1990s) * [ Names starting with "T" → ](/letter/t) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.