Taye
A masculine name of Amharic origin meaning "one who speaks truth".
Name Census estimates that about 611 living Americans carry the first name Taye. It is a predominantly male name (92.2% of registrations). The average person named Taye today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taye births was 2004 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taye. 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.
People living today
611
~ 1 in 560,973 Americans
Peak year
2004
59 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,633
Tracked since 1998
Gender
Gender distribution for Taye
Taye leans heavily male at 92.2% of total registrations, but 48 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Taye as a male name
- Ranked #9,633 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2004 (53 births)
Taye as a female name
- Ranked #17,272 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 1998 (10 births)
Popularity
Taye: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taye 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 398 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
Taye 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 Taye during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tayes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Taye, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Taye
The name Taye has its origins in the Amharic language, which is spoken primarily in Ethiopia. Amharic is a Semitic language that has been the official language of Ethiopia since the late 13th century. The name Taye is derived from the Amharic word "taye," which means "my gift" or "my precious one."
One of the earliest known references to the name Taye can be found in the Kebra Nagast, a 14th-century Ethiopian religious text that chronicles the origins of the Solomonic dynasty. The text mentions a character named Taye, who was said to be a loyal servant of the Queen of Sheba.
In the 16th century, a prominent Ethiopian ruler named Taye Gualu played a significant role in the Adal War, which was a conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate. Taye Gualu was known for his military prowess and his unwavering loyalty to the Ethiopian monarchy.
Another notable historical figure with the name Taye was Taye Sellassie Gugsa, who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was a member of the Ethiopian nobility and served as the governor of several provinces during the reign of Emperor Menelik II.
In the 20th century, Taye Diop Diop was a Senegalese historian and anthropologist who made significant contributions to the study of African history and culture. He was born in 1923 and passed away in 1987.
Taye Selassie Theodoros, born in 1924, was an Ethiopian prince and member of the Solomonic dynasty. He served as a diplomat and was appointed as the first Ethiopian ambassador to the United States in the 1950s.
Overall, the name Taye has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in the Ethiopian and broader African context. Its meaning of "my gift" or "my precious one" reflects the endearing and affectionate nature of the name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Taye
People
Taye + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taye 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
Taye: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taye?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 611 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taye 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 560,973 US residents.
Is Taye a common name?
We classify Taye as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 619 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taye most popular?
The single biggest year for Taye was 2004, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taye is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Taye a male name?
Yes, 92.2% of people registered as Taye 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.
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.