Taber
Derived from the Middle English word for a drum maker or taborer.
Name Census estimates that about 427 living Americans carry the first name Taber. It is a predominantly male name (93.7% of registrations). The average person named Taber today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taber births was 2003 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taber. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
427
~ 1 in 802,703 Americans
Peak year
2003
17 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2015 SSA rank
#11,905
Tracked since 1967
Gender
Gender distribution for Taber
Taber leans heavily male at 93.7% of total registrations, but 28 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Taber as a male name
- Ranked #11,905 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 2003 (17 births)
Taber as a female name
- Ranked #18,917 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2005 (8 births)
Popularity
Taber: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taber from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 134 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Taber remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taber by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Taber during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Taber
The given name Taber is an English occupational surname that has been adopted as a masculine given name. Its origins can be traced back to the Middle English word "tabbour," meaning a maker of napped cloth or a fuller of cloth.
The name is believed to have originated in the 13th century, during the height of the English wool trade. It was derived from the Old French word "tabor," which referred to a small drum or tambourine used by traveling entertainers and minstrels. The name likely referred to individuals involved in the production or performance of such instruments.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Taber can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which mentions a person named "Taber de Barking" in Essex, England. However, it is unclear whether this was a given name or a surname.
In the 15th century, a notable bearer of the name was Taber Keaworth, a wealthy landowner and merchant from Norfolk, England, who lived from 1420 to 1492.
During the 16th century, Taber Martyn (1515-1582) was a prominent English lawyer and Member of Parliament from Gloucestershire.
In the 17th century, Taber Wynne (1612-1681) was a Welsh clergyman and author who served as the Bishop of St. Asaph.
The name gained further prominence in the 18th century with Taber Richardson (1737-1805), an American Revolutionary War soldier and early settler of Vermont.
In the 19th century, Taber Chadbourne (1825-1893) was a notable American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Maine.
While the name Taber has been more commonly used as a surname, its adoption as a given name, particularly in the United States, has added to its historical significance and continued usage over the centuries.
People
Taber + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taber as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Taber: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taber?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 427 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taber going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 802,703 US residents.
Is Taber a common name?
We classify Taber as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 441 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taber most popular?
The single biggest year for Taber was 2003, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taber is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Taber a male name?
Yes, 93.7% of people registered as Taber in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.