2000
#84,310
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 207
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.08
Very Rare Last name
Taintor
A variation of the occupational surname Tenter, referring to someone who worked with cloth on a tenter frame.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 249 Americans carry the last name Taintor. That puts it at #91,198 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.07 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,376,523 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Taintor surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
249
1 in 1,376,523
Census rank
#91,198
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
217
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 217 bearers of the surname Taintor in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.07 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 91198th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Taintor, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (1.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Taintor
The surname Taintor originated in England during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Old French word "teinturier," meaning a dyer or cloth colorer. This occupational surname arose from the trade of dyeing fabrics, a vital industry in many English towns and villages.
The earliest recorded instances of the Taintor name can be found in various historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries. One notable example is the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which contains a reference to a "William le Teynturer" residing in Oxfordshire.
As the surname spread across England, it underwent several spelling variations, including Teynturer, Teynter, and Taynter, before eventually settling into the modern form of Taintor. These variations reflect the regional dialects and scribal interpretations of the time.
In the 16th century, the Taintor name appeared in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. This entry, dated 1541, mentions the baptism of a child named John Taintor, son of Robert and Agnes Taintor.
One of the earliest notable individuals bearing the Taintor surname was William Taintor, a merchant and alderman in the city of Bristol during the late 16th century. He played a prominent role in the city's trade and governance.
Another prominent figure was John Taintor, a Puritan minister born in 1606 in Wiltshire, England. He later emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1638 and served as a minister in Milton and Watertown.
In the 17th century, the Taintor name also appeared in the records of the Virginia Company, with a Thomas Taintor listed as a settler in the Jamestown Colony in 1623.
During the English Civil War era, a Captain Edward Taintor fought for the Parliamentarian forces under Oliver Cromwell. Historical accounts mention his participation in the Battle of Naseby in 1645.
As the centuries progressed, the Taintor surname continued to spread across various regions of England, with some members of the family later emigrating to other parts of the world, including America and the British colonies.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taintor
Among Census respondents with the surname Taintor, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (1.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Taintor bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Taintor surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.2% · 200
- Two or more races5.1% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
- Black or African American0.5% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Taintor
Taintor appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#91,221
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 202
-5 bearers (-2.4%)
Per 100,000 0.07
Rank movement Down 6,911 places
2020
#91,198
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 217
+15 bearers (+7.4%)
Per 100,000 0.07
Rank movement Up 23 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #84,310 | 207 | 0.08 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #91,221 | 202 | 0.07 | -5 bearers (-2.4%) | Down 6,911 places |
| 2020 | #91,198 | 217 | 0.07 | +15 bearers (+7.4%) | Up 23 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Taintor surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #91,221 | #91,198 | 0.0% |
| Count | 202 | 217 | 7.4% |
| Per 100K | 0.07 | 0.07 | 3.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Taintor bearers went from 202 to 217 (+7.4% change). The surname moved up 23 positions in the national ranking, going from #91,221 to #91,198.
FAQ
Taintor surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Taintor?
Name Census estimates that about 249 living Americans carry the surname Taintor. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,376,523 residents.
How common is Taintor?
Taintor ranks #91,198 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.07 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 217 people with the surname Taintor. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (249), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.07 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.07 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Taintor.
Has Taintor become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Taintor went from 202 recorded bearers to 217. That is an increase of 15 (+7.4%). In the national ranking it rose from #91,221 to #91,198.
What does the Census say about the background of Taintor?
Among Census respondents with the surname Taintor, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (1.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Taintor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (200 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Taintor appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.2%), Two or More Races (5.1%), Hispanic (1.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Taintor (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Taintor mean?
A variation of the occupational surname Tenter, referring to someone who worked with cloth on a tenter frame. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Taintor (0.07 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Taintor?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how common the surname Taintor is at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.