Tao
A name of Chinese origin meaning "the way" or "the path".
Name Census estimates that about 418 living Americans carry the first name Tao. It is a predominantly male name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Tao today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tao births was 2021 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tao. 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 Tao with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
418
~ 1 in 819,986 Americans
Peak year
2021
20 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,741
Tracked since 1970
Census
Tao in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,752 people with the first name Tao, which placed it at #4,073 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
#4,073
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,752 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tao
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Tao 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 Tao at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.6% · 4,303
- White4.7% · 221
- Two or more races1.7% · 83
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 68
- Black or African American1.3% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Tao
Tao leans heavily male at 97.7% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tao as a male name
- Ranked #9,733 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (20 births)
Tao as a female name
- Ranked #6,741 in 1980
- 10 female births in 1980
- Peak: 1980 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tao on both sides of the split. Of the 4,759 people counted with this name, 3,675 were male (77.2%) and 1,084 were female (22.8%).
Popularity
Tao: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tao from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 131 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tao remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tao 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 Tao during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tao
The name Tao is rooted in ancient Chinese philosophy and has a rich cultural significance dating back thousands of years. It originated from the Chinese word "dao," which means "path" or "way." The concept of Tao is central to Taoism, an influential spiritual and philosophical tradition that emerged in China around the 6th century BCE.
One of the earliest and most important references to Tao can be found in the Tao Te Ching, a fundamental text of Taoism attributed to the ancient sage Lao Tzu. The Tao Te Ching describes Tao as the natural order of the universe, the way of nature, and the ultimate source of all things. It emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao and embracing its profound wisdom.
The name Tao gained widespread recognition and significance through the teachings of influential Taoist philosophers like Lao Tzu and Zhuangzi, who lived around the 4th century BCE. Their writings and teachings focused on the Tao as a guiding principle for living a balanced and harmonious life, emphasizing simplicity, humility, and the acceptance of the natural flow of existence.
Throughout Chinese history, several notable figures bore the name Tao. One of the earliest recorded examples is Tao Qian (365-427 CE), a renowned poet and calligrapher from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, who is celebrated for his poetry capturing the beauty of nature and the joys of a simple life in harmony with the Tao.
Another notable historical figure with the name Tao was Tao Gu (903-970 CE), a celebrated Taoist monk and scholar during the Song Dynasty. He played a significant role in reviving and promoting Taoist teachings and practices, contributing to the preservation and dissemination of Taoist philosophy.
In more recent times, Tao Xingzhi (1891-1946) was a prominent Chinese educator and philosopher who advocated for a holistic approach to education based on the principles of Taoism. His teachings emphasized the importance of individual growth, self-discovery, and a connection with nature, reflecting the core values of the Tao.
The name Tao has also been carried by notable figures outside of China. For example, Tao Hsing (1900-1957) was a Taiwanese artist and educator who played a significant role in the development of modern Taiwanese art and art education, drawing inspiration from Taoist principles.
Additionally, Tao Lin (born 1983) is an American writer and artist of Chinese descent, known for his novels and works that explore themes of alienation and modern life, reflecting the Taoist concepts of simplicity and the search for meaning within the ordinary.
People
Tao + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tao 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
Tao: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tao?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 418 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tao 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 819,986 US residents.
Is Tao a common name?
We classify Tao as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 427 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tao most popular?
The single biggest year for Tao was 2021, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tao is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tao in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,752 people with the name Tao, or 1.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,073 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 Tao 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 Tao?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tao on both sides of the split. Of the 4,759 people counted with this name, 3,675 were male (77.2%) and 1,084 were female (22.8%). 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 Tao?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tao is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.7%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Tao most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tao in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.6% (4,303 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 Tao in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tao a male name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Tao 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 Tao still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tao 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 Tao 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 have the name Tao?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.