Taleya
Invented name possibly combining French "tâlée" meaning beautiful adornment or jewel.
Name Census estimates that about 285 living Americans carry the first name Taleya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Taleya today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taleya births was 2006 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taleya. 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 Taleya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
285
~ 1 in 1,202,647 Americans
Peak year
2006
17 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,363
Tracked since 1991
Census
Taleya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 234 people with the first name Taleya, which placed it at #34,758 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
#34,758
National first-name rank
People counted
234
234 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taleya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taleya is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.4%) and White (8.5%). 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 Taleya 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 Taleya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.1% · 157
- Two or more races12.4% · 29
- White8.5% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Taleya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taleya from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 127 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
Taleya 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 Taleya 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 Taleya
The name Taleya has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was the classical literary language of the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "talaya," which means "to be balanced" or "to be poised." This suggests that the name was originally associated with concepts of harmony, equilibrium, and grace.
In ancient Hindu texts, particularly the Vedas and the Upanishads, the name Taleya is mentioned in reference to the notion of maintaining a balanced state of mind and body. It is believed that the name was often given to individuals who embodied this ideal of balance and serenity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Taleya can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Taleya is mentioned as the name of a female character, though her significance in the narrative is not extensively detailed.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Taleya. One such individual was Taleya Devi, a Hindu saint and mystic who lived in the 15th century. She was renowned for her spiritual teachings and her contributions to the Bhakti movement, a devotional tradition that emphasized love and devotion to the divine.
Another notable bearer of the name was Taleya Bhat, an Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived during the 7th century CE. Bhat made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and is credited with developing methods for calculating the positions of celestial bodies.
In the realm of literature, Taleya Chatterjee was a prominent Bengali novelist and short story writer who lived from 1914 to 1987. Her works explored themes of social injustice, women's empowerment, and the human condition.
The name Taleya also found its way into the world of dance and performing arts. Taleya Gupta was an acclaimed Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived from 1925 to 2008. She was widely celebrated for her mastery of the Kathak dance form and her contributions to preserving and promoting Indian cultural traditions.
Another notable bearer of the name was Taleya Kapur, an Indian film actress who appeared in several Bollywood productions during the 1960s and 1970s. She was known for her versatile acting abilities and her captivating on-screen presence.
While the name Taleya has its roots in ancient Sanskrit, it has transcended cultural and geographical boundaries, finding acceptance and appreciation across various regions and communities. Its association with balance, poise, and harmony has endured, making it a name that continues to resonate with many individuals seeking to embody these qualities.
People
Taleya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taleya 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
Taleya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taleya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 285 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taleya 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 1,202,647 US residents.
Is Taleya a common name?
We classify Taleya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 289 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taleya most popular?
The single biggest year for Taleya was 2006, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taleya is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taleya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 234 people with the name Taleya, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,758 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 Taleya 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 Taleya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taleya appears almost entirely female. Of the 240 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Taleya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taleya is Black at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.4%) and White (8.5%). 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 Taleya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Taleya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (157 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 Taleya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taleya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taleya 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.
Is Taleya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taleya 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 Taleya 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 people are called Taleya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.