The Tanguy surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 149 people carried this name — #116,829 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 2,000,000 people counted. That is up 16% from 129 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Tanguy surname
Borrowed from French Tanguy, itself from Breton Tangi.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Tanguy» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 8,482 people named Tanguy.
48 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 86 départements, most often Finistère.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
34 people named Tanguy live in Switzerland.
They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
Who carried it
People named Tanguy,
with a public archive behind them.
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Julien Tanguy 1825–1894 · art dealer -
Yves Tanguy 1876–1943 · politician -
Henri Rol-Tanguy 1908–2002 · military personnel -
Eugène Tanguy 1830–1898 · painter
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Charles Tanguy 1845–2000 · composer
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Jeannette Ducrocq Tanguy 1896–1977 · artist
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Tanguy.
When the index is not enough
This page says where Tanguy is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.