Name Generator

How popular is the name Tao?

Births per year, rank history and how many Taos are alive today.

Tao (male) is a rare boys' name in England and Wales, ranked 2952nd in 2025 and given to 7 babies. This spelling of the name peaked in 2023, when 14 babies were given the name, the 1701st most popular that year. It was almost as popular in 2010, with 12 babies given the name that year. Tao is one spelling of a name also recorded as Tau; the combined figures below cover every spelling.

Across all spellings of the name, the Tao you are most likely to meet is around 3 years old. Half of all Taos born in England and Wales are between 6 and 22, and there are at least 240 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 males, there's less than a 1% chance that anyone will be called Tao - on average, only one in every 1,263 such rooms contains a Tao.

How many babies are named Tao each year?

Includes all spellings: Tao, Tau. Figures before 1996 are estimates.

0510200020201999: 62001: 72002: 62003: 42004: 62005: 82006: 72007: 72008: 82009: 72010: 122011: 62012: 52013: 92014: 82015: 82016: 92017: 52018: 112019: 62020: 82021: 112022: 132023: 142024: 112025: 7actual

Where does the Tao spelling rank?

1101001,0005,000200020201999: ranked 1,8502001: ranked 1,7462002: ranked 2,0052003: ranked 2,8572004: ranked 2,3042005: ranked 1,9912006: ranked 2,2822007: ranked 2,4352008: ranked 2,2762009: ranked 2,5442010: ranked 1,8012011: ranked 2,8922012: ranked 3,4162013: ranked 2,2162014: ranked 2,4592015: ranked 3,3732016: ranked 2,3352017: ranked 3,4492018: ranked 2,4452019: ranked 3,0132020: ranked 2,4042021: ranked 1,9842022: ranked 1,7822023: ranked 1,7012024: ranked 2,0892025: ranked 2,952

Where does the Tau spelling rank?

1101001,0005,0002015: ranked 4,7472018: ranked 4,749

Where this data comes from

Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.

One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.

Chart: babies named Tao per year in England and Wales, 1999 to 2025, peaking at about 14 in 2023
Tao: births per year in England and Wales, 1999-2025. Free to share with a link back.

Common questions

When was the name Tao most popular?

Tao peaked in 2023, when 14 babies in England and Wales were given the name across all spellings.

How many people are called Tao?

At least 240 people named Tao in any spelling born in England and Wales are alive today.

How old is the typical Tao?

Most living Taos are between 6 and 22; the most common age is about 3.

Is Tao becoming more or less popular?

Broadly steady in recent years.






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