Holding steady.
Popularity of Latanja since 1960
Babies named Latanja per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1969, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Latanja's real moment was 1978.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1960s | 79 |
| 1970s | 52 |
| 1980s | 5 |
| 1990s | 0 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Latanja is a modern American coinage that first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1960, part of a wave of creative naming in African American communities during the latter half of the 20th century. The name combines the fashionable prefix La with tanja, likely inspired by the name Tanya, itself a Russian diminutive of Tatiana. Latanja reached its peak popularity in 1978, its highest recorded year of use, and has since declined, remaining well outside the top 1000 names. Its trajectory is stable at very low usage, and it has no recorded associations with any particular U.S. state. As an invented name, Latanja carries no established etymology or meaning, but its structure reflects the broader trend of melodic, personalized naming that flourished in the 1970s.
Latanja first appeared in U.S. birth records around the 1960s, during a period when many African American communities created distinctive names by blending syllables and sounds from existing names. The prefix La was popular in coinages like Latasha and Latoya, often drawing from French or Spanish influences, while tanja may echo names like Tanya. Latanja is a relatively rare name, peaking in use during the 1970s and declining thereafter.
Nicknames & variants
Sibling names for Latanja
Names that share Latanja's style, for a brother or sister.
