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Tao

#5,822 in 2025Boys' name

Large waves

Tao has been given to 443 babies in the U.S. since 1970. In 2025 it ranked #5,822 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 20 recorded.

Babies named Tao, 2025

1 in 207,000

Tao over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Tao: meaning, origin, and history

Large waves

Mandarin

What Tao means

Tao means “large waves”.

Origin, language, and formation

Tao is used in English. Its origins include Mandarin.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 433 boys were recorded with the name Tao between 1970 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 20 in 2021; its best national rank was #3,661 in 1973.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,649 in 2020 to #5,822 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,955 in 2015 to #5,822 in 2025.

In the United States, 10 girls were recorded with the name Tao between 1980 and 1980. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1980; its best national rank was #6,741 in 1980.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Tao?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 207,000
16 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 107,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,822
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
143,620 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Tao sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 143,620 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Tao. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Taos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Tao was born before 2009 — so the typical Tao is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
30.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
73.2%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
433
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 30.3% of all recorded uses (131).

Is Tao rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+3,935
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+2,827
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+133
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.07×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
80.0%
Peak was 2021 (20)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,661
1973

Where Tao is used

Across 1910–2025, Tao was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 645,656 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Tao has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Tao around the world

Where Tao ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1999–2025
    #2,952
    in 2025
  • France
    1984–2025
    #259
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #2,134
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1986–2013
    #499
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Tao by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,822
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 2,827
Best rank ever
#3,661
1973
Peak year
2021
20 that year
First recorded
1970
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
433
Count in 2025
16

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,741
1980
Peak year
1980
10 that year
First recorded
1980
Last recorded
1980
All-time count
10
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Tao

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

TaosMatao

Sibling names for Tao

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Tao

Top names of 2021, Tao's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1973Boys' names starting with TChinese Boy NamesChinese Girl NamesChinese Names