Tait
A Scottish nickname derived from the Old English word "thwait" meaning "a clearing or meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 1,183 living Americans carry the first name Tait. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Tait today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tait births was 2007 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tait. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tait with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 289,733 Americans
Peak year
2007
44 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,221
Tracked since 1967
Census
Tait in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,221 people with the first name Tait, which placed it at #10,762 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,762
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tait
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tait is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tait described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tait at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.2% · 1,077
- Two or more races4.6% · 56
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 45
- Black or African American1.8% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Tait
Tait leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tait as a male name
- Ranked #8,221 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (44 births)
Tait as a female name
- Ranked #18,982 in 2013
- 5 female births in 2013
- Peak: 1996 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tait leans strongly male. 1,111 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 109 female bearers (8.9%).
Popularity
Tait: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tait from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 334 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tait 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 Tait during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Minnesota, Utah recorded the most babies named Tait, while Utah, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tait
The name Tait has its roots in the Scottish Gaelic language, originating in the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Gaelic word "tāit," which means "pride" or "arrogance." The name was likely originally used as a descriptive nickname or surname for someone who exhibited a sense of pride or haughtiness.
In the 16th century, the name Tait was found in various Scottish historical records and documents, particularly in the regions of Aberdeenshire and Angus. It was often spelled as "Tate" or "Tayt" during that time period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tait can be found in the Scottish Roll of Arms from the 16th century, where a family bearing the surname Tait is mentioned. However, there are no specific references to the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tait. One of the earliest was John Tait (1589-1644), a Scottish minister and author who served as the principal of King's College, Aberdeen. Another prominent figure was Archibald Campbell Tait (1811-1882), who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1868 until his death.
In the 19th century, Peter Guthrie Tait (1831-1901) was a renowned Scottish mathematical physicist and one of the founders of the modern mathematical theory of quaternions. He made significant contributions to the fields of thermodynamics and mechanics.
Another notable Tait was John Tait (1861-1932), a Scottish architect who designed several notable buildings in Glasgow, including the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
In the realm of literature, Samuel Tait (1849-1920) was a Scottish writer and journalist known for his works on Scottish history and culture.
While the name Tait may have originated as a descriptive nickname or surname, it gradually transitioned into a first name in its own right, particularly in Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom.
People
Tait + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tait 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
Tait: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tait?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tait 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 289,733 US residents.
Is Tait a common name?
We classify Tait as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,223 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tait most popular?
The single biggest year for Tait was 2007, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tait is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tait in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,221 people with the name Tait, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,762 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tait in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tait?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tait leans strongly male. 1,111 people counted with this name were male (91.1%), compared with 109 female bearers (8.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tait?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tait is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.6%) and Hispanic (3.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tait most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tait in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (1,077 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tait in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tait a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Tait 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.
Is Tait still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tait in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tait can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Tait?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.