Tailor
One who makes, repairs, or alters outer garments.
Name Census estimates that about 1,106 living Americans carry the first name Tailor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Tailor today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tailor births was 1997 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tailor. 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
1.1K
~ 1 in 309,904 Americans
Peak year
1997
78 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2016 SSA rank
#13,947
Tracked since 1988
Gender
Gender distribution for Tailor
Tailor leans heavily female at 85.8% of total registrations, but 161 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tailor as a male name
- Ranked #13,947 in 2016
- 5 male births in 2016
- Peak: 1992 (12 births)
Tailor as a female name
- Ranked #15,018 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (71 births)
Popularity
Tailor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tailor from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 592 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tailor 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 Tailor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tailors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Tailor, while Washington, Illinois, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tailor
The name Tailor is an English occupational surname that has been used as a given name in more recent times. It is derived from the Old French word "tailleur," which itself comes from the Latin word "taliare," meaning "to cut." The name originally referred to someone who made or repaired garments for a living.
In the medieval period, tailors were important craftsmen who belonged to guilds and worked in towns and cities across Europe. The name Tailor would have been used as a surname to identify someone's profession or the occupation of their family.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tailor as a given name dates back to the 16th century. In 1585, a man named Tailor Shawcross was born in England. However, it was not until much later that the name began to gain popularity as a first name.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the first name Tailor was Tailor Green (1794-1876), an African American abolitionist and minister from Virginia. He escaped from slavery and became a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement, working alongside leaders like Frederick Douglass.
Another historical figure with the name Tailor was Tailor Howe (1809-1892), a British engineer and inventor. He is best known for his contributions to the development of the sewing machine, which revolutionized the garment industry.
In the 20th century, Tailor Loos (1901-1986) was an American architect and interior designer, known for her influential work in modernist design. She was responsible for the design of numerous iconic buildings and interiors, including the Williamsburg Inn in Virginia.
Tailor Buchanan (1905-1986) was an American football player and coach. He played quarterback for the University of Southern California and later coached at several colleges, including the University of Texas and the United States Naval Academy.
Tailor Barksdale (1923-2010) was an American jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He was a prominent figure in the West Coast jazz scene and contributed to the development of cool jazz and hard bop styles.
While the name Tailor has its origins in an occupational surname, it has since evolved into a unique and distinctive given name, carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions throughout history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Tailor
People
Tailor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tailor 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
Tailor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tailor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,106 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tailor 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 309,904 US residents.
Is Tailor a common name?
We classify Tailor as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tailor most popular?
The single biggest year for Tailor was 1997, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tailor is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tailor a female name?
Yes, 85.8% of people registered as Tailor in the SSA data are female. 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.