Thaila
A feminine name of Brazilian origin meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 106 living Americans carry the first name Thaila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thaila today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thaila births was 2000 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thaila. 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 Thaila with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
106
~ 1 in 3,233,531 Americans
Peak year
2000
12 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,039
Tracked since 1997
Census
Thaila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 196 people with the first name Thaila, which placed it at #38,869 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
#38,869
National first-name rank
People counted
196
196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
27.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thaila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thaila is Hispanic at 27.0%. The next largest groups are White (25.5%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Thaila 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 Thaila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino27.0% · 53
- White25.5% · 50
- Black or African American16.3% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.8% · 31
- Two or more races12.8% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 5
Popularity
Thaila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thaila from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 71 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
Thaila 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 Thaila 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 Thaila
The name Thaila has its origins in ancient Greek mythology and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "thallos," which means "green shoot" or "young branch," symbolizing growth, renewal, and vitality. This name was often associated with fertility goddesses and deities connected to nature and vegetation.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Thaila can be found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Hesiod, who lived around the 8th century BCE. In his famous poem "Theogony," he mentions the Graces, or Charites, which were three goddesses representing charm, beauty, and fertility. One of these Graces was named Thalia, the personification of blooming and bountiful nature.
During the Hellenistic period, the name Thaila gained popularity among Greek families, particularly those with ties to the worship of nature deities or those who valued the symbolic meaning of growth and renewal. It was often given to daughters born in the spring or early summer months.
In the 5th century BCE, there was a notable Greek woman named Thaila, who was a philosopher and follower of Pythagoras. She is recorded as one of the few female Pythagorean scholars of her time, known for her contributions to the study of mathematics and geometry.
Another historical figure bearing the name Thaila was a Greek lyric poet who lived in the 3rd century BCE. Although few of her works have survived, she was renowned for her poetic skills and was mentioned by ancient writers such as Antipater of Thessalonica.
In the 2nd century CE, there was a Greek courtesan named Thaila who gained fame and influence in the city of Alexandria. She was known for her wit, beauty, and intellectual prowess, and was celebrated in the writings of several ancient authors, including Athenaeus.
Throughout the centuries, the name Thaila has been carried by various individuals across different cultures and regions influenced by Greek civilization. However, it has remained relatively uncommon compared to other Greek names, retaining its unique and ancient connection to the mythological symbolism of growth and nature's bounty.
People
Thaila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thaila 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
Thaila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thaila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 106 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thaila 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 3,233,531 US residents.
Is Thaila a common name?
We classify Thaila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 108 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thaila most popular?
The single biggest year for Thaila was 2000, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thaila is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thaila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 196 people with the name Thaila, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,869 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 Thaila 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 Thaila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thaila leans strongly female. 192 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 4 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Thaila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thaila is Hispanic at 27.0%. The next largest groups are White (25.5%) and Black (16.3%). 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 Thaila most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Thaila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 27.0% (53 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 Thaila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thaila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thaila 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 Thaila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thaila 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 Thaila 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 common is the name Thaila?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Thaila at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.