Fun Facts About the Name Tansy
- 390 babies named Tansy: U.S. records list 390 babies given the name Tansy from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Tansy Mean?
Tansy is an English feminine given name taken from the name of the herb tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), a bitter, aromatic plant. Its established meaning is immortality, and that meaning comes from the plant's name rather than from the plant's own qualities.
The herb's name reached English through Old French tanesie, from Medieval Latin athanasia, which goes back to Greek athanasia, "immortality." The Greek word is formed from the negative prefix a- ("not") plus thanatos ("death"). Literally the root means "deathlessness"; the customary meaning recorded for the name is "immortality." Because the given name is a borrowing of plant vocabulary rather than a form of any other personal name, its meaning and its origin are really the same question as the meaning and origin of the herb's name.
Tansy Name History & Origins
The word behind the name belongs to European plant lore long before it belonged to any person. In medieval and early modern England, tansy grew in kitchen and physic gardens. Its leaves were used to flavor Easter puddings and small fried cakes known as tansy cakes, and it was taken as a remedy for intestinal worms. Herbalists also treated it as a preservative, and the notion of the body kept from corruption is how the Greek root meaning "immortality" came to be attached to the plant.
As a personal name, Tansy belongs to the English habit of turning herb and flower words into given names. It is uncommon, and it is used mainly in the English-speaking world. Its development is the history of the plant word rather than of an older personal name passed down through Latin, French, or Germanic forms, so there is no line of earlier personal variants to trace.
How Popular is the Name Tansy?
Tansy has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #4,506 in 1930.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,454 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #12,007 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2023 | #14,984 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2022 | #7,987 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2020 | #12,031 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #12,341 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2018 | #15,479 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #11,529 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #14,187 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2015 | #16,233 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #10,872 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #13,036 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #16,652 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #19,925 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2008 | #20,167 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #15,320 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #18,910 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #15,897 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #18,147 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #17,826 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #11,949 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #15,912 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #11,683 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #13,229 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #10,277 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1987 | #13,065 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #10,762 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #9,190 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1984 | #5,857 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1983 | #7,972 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1982 | #7,410 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1981 | #5,219 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1980 | #8,096 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1979 | #7,975 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1978 | #5,184 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1977 | #5,182 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1976 | #6,546 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #5,943 | 10 | 0.0007% |
| 1974 | #5,319 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1973 | #4,561 | 13 | 0.0009% |
| 1971 | #7,297 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #5,367 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1969 | #8,551 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1963 | #5,836 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1962 | #5,793 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #7,198 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1954 | #6,531 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1948 | #5,956 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1930 | #4,506 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1920 | #5,670 | 5 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Tansy Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You like to control everyone within your influence, to shape things to your own liking. If positive, you develop high spirituality, as you have a God's protection. You are sensitive, affectionate, imaginative and cooperative, spiritually aware and prone to self-sacrifice. You can keep secrets and are a good diplomat. You may have healing and psychic powers. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are very intuitive. You have a reservoir of inspired wisdom combined with inherited analytical ability, which could reward you through expressions of spiritual leadership, business analysis, marketing, artistic visions, and scientific research. Operating on spiritual side of your individuality can bring you to the great heights, and drop you off if you neglect your spiritual identity. You are always looking for an opportunity to investigate the unknown, to use and show your mental abilities, to find the purpose and meaning of life. You want to grow wise and to understand people and things. You need privacy to replenish your energy. You have a unique way of thinking, intuitive, reflective, absorbing.
✦ Tansy's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Tansy's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.