Tauriel
A feminine name of Sindarin origin meaning "Daughter of the Forest".
Name Census estimates that about 214 living Americans carry the first name Tauriel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tauriel today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tauriel births was 2015 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tauriel. 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 Tauriel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
214
~ 1 in 1,601,656 Americans
Peak year
2015
38 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,980
Tracked since 2014
Popularity
Tauriel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tauriel from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 151 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Tauriel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tauriel 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 Tauriel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tauriels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tauriel
The given name Tauriel does not have a known historical origin or documented usage prior to the 21st century. It appears to be a relatively modern invented name, first introduced in the 2013 fantasy film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" by J.R.R. Tolkien. In the film, Tauriel is the name of a fictional Elf character played by actress Evangeline Lilly.
The name Tauriel is likely derived from the Sindarin Elvish words "taur" meaning "forest" and "iel" meaning "daughter" or "female descendant." Together, the name can be interpreted as "daughter of the forest" or "forest maiden." Tolkien, who was a philologist and created several constructed languages for his literary works, drew inspiration from various linguistic roots, including Finnish, Welsh, and Old English, when crafting names for his fictional characters and places.
While the name Tauriel itself does not have a documented historical usage, it bears some resemblance to the name "Tauriel" in Greek mythology, which refers to a minor deity associated with Mount Taurus in Asia Minor. However, this similarity is likely coincidental and does not imply a direct connection or influence on the name's modern usage.
As a relatively new name introduced in popular culture, there are no known historical figures or records of individuals named Tauriel prior to the 21st century. The character Tauriel from "The Hobbit" films remains the most notable and widely recognized bearer of this name to date.
It is worth noting that while Tauriel does not have a documented historical origin, the name has gained some popularity in recent years, particularly among fans of Tolkien's works and the fantasy genre. Its inclusion in a major film franchise has likely contributed to its recognition and occasional usage as a modern given name.
People
Tauriel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tauriel 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
Tauriel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tauriel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tauriel 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 1,601,656 US residents.
Is Tauriel a common name?
We classify Tauriel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 215 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tauriel most popular?
The single biggest year for Tauriel was 2015, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tauriel is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Tauriel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tauriel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tauriel 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 Tauriel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tauriel 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 Tauriel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Tauriel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.