Tanner
Meaning
occupational surname, "leather tanner"
The story
Tanner began as an English occupational surname for someone who tanned animal hides into leather. Like Carter, Cooper, and Mason, it moved from a trade into a family name and then onto birth certificates. The meaning is concrete and historical; it is not a metaphor for toughness or color. The US curve first registers in the later twentieth century, rises hard in the 1990s, stays at its displayed high level through the 2000s and 2010s, and eases in the 2020s. That broad plateau made Tanner a defining surname-style boys' name across more than one generation. Its double n and familiar -er ending make it sound thoroughly modern in the nursery, but the word preserves an old and physically demanding craft. Tanner is modern as a first-name fashion, not as a piece of English vocabulary.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Tanner peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
50 people · the #66,656 first name in Brazil · median age 38
Among people named Tanner living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Tanner
Most people given the name Tanner in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Tanner deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Tanner truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Tanner fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Does Tanner fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Tanner to your family’s tree →