The Tenney surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,238 people carried this name — #4,868 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 40,800 people counted. That is up 4% from 6,957 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Tenney surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Dennis’.

His entry covers Tenny and Tenney.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 741 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

47 families named Tenney, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 274 people lived in those households, 5.8 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Massachusetts 25
New Hampshire 12
Vermont 6
Connecticut 1
Maryland 1
North Carolina 1
South Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 264 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Tenney in American newspapers,
1901–1912.

Newspaper page from Democratic Messenger carrying the name Tenney
Democratic Messenger 1912-01-20
Newspaper page from The Mitchell Capital carrying the name Tenney
The Mitchell Capital 1903-02-13
Newspaper page from The Herald-advance carrying the name Tenney
The Herald-advance 1901-08-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 112,362 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Tenney in Australian newspapers,
1880s–1980s.

603 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tenney. The most, 143, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.9 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 385
Victoria 90
Queensland 70
South Australia 22
Western Australia 18
Tasmania 9
ACT (Canberra) 5

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Tenney.

Who carried it

People named Tenney,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Samuel Tenney
    Samuel Tenney 1748–1816 · judge
  • Orlando Barnard Tenney
    Orlando Barnard Tenney 1816– · politician
  • Asa Wentworth Tenney
    Asa Wentworth Tenney 1833–1897 · judge
  • John Tenney 1567–
  • Adna Tenney 1810–1900 · artist
  • Leonard Tenney 1814–1903

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Tenney,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States534 records

534 records of the Tenney name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 223
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 137
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 85
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 41
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 22
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 20
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 5
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Frederick W. Tenney

    Born 1920 in Maine. Enlisted 1944 at Fort Banks Boston, Massachusetts; textile mill worker. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1987, buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery, Massachusetts.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Julia Tenney

    Arrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Harriet from Liverpool, aged 40; laborer. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Carl Tenney

    Veteran of the Spanish–American War. Born 1875, died 1950; buried at Dayton National Cemetery, Ohio.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 534 records for Tenney in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia18 records

18 records of the Tenney name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 10
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 3
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 2
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 2
  • Tasmanian Names Index 1
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Peter Tenney

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the John M Mayo, aged 27; American.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record George Hy Tenney

    Farmer of New South Wales; died 1923.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Thomas Tenney

    Of Lowesdale, New South Wales; died 1888.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 18 records for Tenney in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada2 records

2 records of the Tenney name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1
  • Ontario immigration records, 1865–1883 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Birth record Sophia Tenney

    Born 1873 in Bear Point, Shelburne, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 1 of 2 records for Tenney in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Tenney.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Tenney 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.

See the Tenney volume
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