ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1913 First Year 1967 Last Year 1926 Peak Year #2186 Peak Rank 202 Total Count 31 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Tennis What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis) 🏛️Origin & history Main article: History of tennis [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Tennis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/2013_Australian_Open_-_Guillaume_Rufin.jpg/330px-2013_Australian_Open_-_Guillaume_Rufin.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis) 📖 ## The Story of Tennis The earliest SSA record of Tennis as a baby boy name dates back to 1913, when 6 babies received it. 1926 was its biggest year on record, with 14 newborns named Tennis — #2,186 in the national rankings. About 27% of every Tennis on record arrived during the 1920s, its defining decade. Tennis last appeared in the published SSA data in 1967, with 6 recorded births — it has not charted nationally since. All told, over 202 Americans have carried the name since 1880, from the 1910s 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 Tennis Phonetically similar names — useful when Tennis is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * Tenace * Tenis * Tenesse * Tonous * Tonus * [Tunis](/tunis) * [Tanis](/tanis) * Tms * Tonis * Temis * Tense * [Thomas](/thomas) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Tennis What does the name Tennis mean? Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket strung with a cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. How popular is Tennis in 2026? In 2026, Tennis ranks #3,558 among boys' names in the U.S., with 6 babies given the name that year. When was Tennis most popular? Tennis reached its peak popularity in 1926, ranking #2,186 that year with 14 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Tennis most popular? Tennis has historically been most popular in West Virginia. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Tennis. Is Tennis a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Tennis is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name. What names go well with Tennis? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Tennis include Ludger, Estanislado, Merel. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👦LudgerPeak #2186](/ludger)[👦EstanisladoPeak #2186](/estanislado)[👦MerelPeak #2186](/merel)[👦TomyPeak #2186](/tomy)[👦AldinePeak #2186](/aldine)[👦AscencionPeak #2186](/ascencion)[👦AlastairPeak #2186](/alastair)[👦BibbPeak #2186](/bibb) ## About the name Tennis Tennis is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1913 and has accumulated 202 births in the dataset. Tennis's peak popularity came in 1926 when it ranked #2,186\. Use the chart and map above to compare Tennis's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1926 → ](/year/1926) * [ Names of the 1920s → ](/decade/1920s) * [ Names starting with "T" → ](/letter/t) * [ Browse all boy names → ](/names/boys) * [ 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.