Tayah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "obedient to God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,314 living Americans carry the first name Tayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tayah today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tayah births was 1999 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tayah. 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 Tayah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 260,848 Americans
Peak year
1999
103 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,203
Tracked since 1996
Census
Tayah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,144 people with the first name Tayah, which placed it at #11,297 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
#11,297
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tayah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tayah is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Black (24.4%) and Two or More Races (15.4%). 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 Tayah 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 Tayah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.2% · 528
- Black or African American24.4% · 279
- Two or more races15.4% · 176
- Hispanic or Latino9.8% · 112
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.1% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 13
Popularity
Tayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tayah 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 608 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
Tayah 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 Tayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tayahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Tayah, while Oregon, Illinois, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tayah
The name Tayah is believed to have its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, which was spoken in the Middle East during the Iron Age and ancient times. It is thought to be derived from the Aramaic word "taya," meaning "wanderer" or "traveler." This suggests that the name may have been given to children who were born during a journey or to those who were expected to travel extensively in their lives.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tayah can be found in the ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablets dating back to around the 6th century BCE. These tablets mention a person named "Tayah-ili," which translates to "Tayah is my god" in the Akkadian language. This indicates that the name may have held religious significance or been associated with deities in ancient Mesopotamian cultures.
In the ancient Hebrew scriptures, there is a reference to a place called "Taiah" in the Book of Ezra, which some scholars believe may be related to the name Tayah. However, the exact connection between the name and this location is unclear.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tayah. One of the earliest recorded was Tayah al-Basri, an influential Islamic scholar and theologian who lived in the 8th century CE. He was renowned for his teachings on Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the development of Islamic theology.
Another prominent figure with the name Tayah was Tayah al-Ghaznawi, a renowned Persian poet and mystic who lived during the 11th century CE. His literary works, which explored themes of spirituality and love, were highly influential in the Persian literary tradition.
In the 13th century, there was Tayah al-Din al-Jundi, a Syrian historian and writer who chronicled the events of the Crusades and the Ayyubid dynasty in his works. His accounts provide valuable insights into the political and social dynamics of the time.
During the 16th century, Tayah Bey was a prominent Ottoman statesman and military leader who served as the governor of several provinces in the Ottoman Empire. He played a significant role in the expansion and consolidation of Ottoman power in the region.
In more recent times, Tayah Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary and political leader who played a crucial role in the struggle for independence from French colonial rule in the early 20th century. She was a prominent figure in the Vietnamese nationalist movement and worked tirelessly to promote the cause of Vietnamese independence.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have borne the name Tayah throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Tayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tayah 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
Tayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,314 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tayah 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 260,848 US residents.
Is Tayah a common name?
We classify Tayah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,333 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Tayah was 1999, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tayah is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tayah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,144 people with the name Tayah, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,297 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 Tayah 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 Tayah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tayah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,139 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Tayah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tayah is White at 46.2%. The next largest groups are Black (24.4%) and Two or More Races (15.4%). 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 Tayah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tayah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.2% (528 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 Tayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tayah 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 Tayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tayah 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 Tayah 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 Tayah as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Tayah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.