The name Tensaw is derived from the historic indigenous Taensa people.

[1] It is a distributary of the Mobile River, approximately 41 miles (66 km) long.

It is formed as a bayou of the Mobile approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) south of the formation of the Mobile by the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers, at 31°04′05″N 87°57′47″W / 31.06795°N 87.96306°W / 31.06795; -87.96306.

It enters Mobile Bay at 30°41′07″N 88°00′25″W / 30.68519°N 88.00695°W / 30.68519; -88.00695, near Blakeley and Pinto islands and approximately 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of downtown Mobile.

This article related to a river in Alabama is a stub.