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Tai

Masculine · “great”

Tai is given to both — 3,122 boys and 1,815 girls since 1880. See Tai as a girl nameSee other names given to both

1922high 2003
#2516 in the U.S.given to only a few children a year
rare53 boys in 2025

Tai is a Chinese word for great or supreme — as in Tai Chi, the supreme ultimate — and it is separately a Japanese and Vietnamese name.

How old is the name Tai?

Tai first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Tai alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 3,000 people named Tai are estimated to be alive in the US today.

When was the name Tai most popular?

Tai peaked in 2003, reaching #1149 nationally. Today it ranks #2516, 1,367 places below that high. See the whole 2003 chart.

Compare this nameMore “T” names

Lists built from the same records:

I

Where it comes from

The story of Tai

Taiji, the supreme ultimate, names the state before yin and yang divide, and gives the martial art its name. Japanese and Vietnamese have their own Tai with their own characters. The romanised spelling collapses them all. Tai appears in American records for both sexes in current use.

Meaning

great, supreme

From the Chinese tai, 太, 'great' or 'supreme', as in taiji, 'the supreme ultimate'. Japanese Tai is written with characters meaning 'thick', 'sea bream' or others. Vietnamese Tài means 'talent'. All are documented and the character fixes the reading.

How the name formed

  1. 太
  2. Tai

Related forms: 太 · Tài · 泰

Pronouncing Tai

TY

One syllable. Mandarin and Vietnamese both give it tones the Latin alphabet does not show.

Nicknames for Tai

Moderate

TThe initial alone, common where a short name wants shortening further
TaijiA longer related form, used inside families rather than generally
II

What the data says

The long climb, and where it stands now

BOYS NAMED · 1922–20251316601315319222025

US babies named Tai per year from 1922 to 2025
AVERAGE RANK BY DECADE#1#10#100#1000#11491920s2020s

The same years in position rather than babies

First recorded
1922
Most boys named
2003131 — the highest on record
Peak rank
#1149reached in 2003
Change vs 2024
−8.6%53 in 2025, from 58
Tai sits in the rare tail. Its best year on record was 2003, with 131 boys. Today it is given to few enough children that it does not enter the ranked charts at all.

Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.

Tai in other languages

The same name elsewhere

  • 太 in Chinese — transliteration
  • Tài in Vietnamese — related form
  • 泰 in Japanese — related form

Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.

Tais among us

3,000

people named Tai are estimated to be alive in the US today

About 1 boy in 32,228 born in 2025 was named Tai

Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method

Spellings of Tai

#2516
Tai on the 2025 chart
#865
counting every spelling

The SSA counts spellings, not names. Tai went to 53 boys in 2025, but Tay is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 63, which makes it the 865th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,651 places above the chart.

  • Tai53
  • Tay10

About 1 boy in 27,112 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 32,228 for Tai itself.

Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method

III

Is it right for you

The Rabon test

Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rabon climbed just as high around 1938, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rabon's path sketches the road Tai is walking now.

40%chance Tai will feel dated by 2040
Tai, aligned on its peakRabon· peak 1938not yet written
#1#10#100#1000peak-40 yrs+50 yrsRabon · #7270Tai today
Tai today is about where Rabon stood in 1960 — 22 years past a #1149-sized peak. By 1975, Rabon had settled around #4505.
Ages quietlysteadyDates fast

Tai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.

A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored

Where Tai is headed

19222030

US babies named Tai per year, 1922 to 2025, with a projection to 2030

Tai should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.

Steady+2% by 2030projected around #2,591 in 2030

Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.

A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.

Tai beside its neighbors

The names ranked closest to Tai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.

Taithis name53#2516Tahir53#2516Rye53#2516Neymar53#2516Alphonse53#2516

US boys given each name in 2025.

The trade-off

Practical strengths
  • That taiji names the state before yin and yang divide is a first-rate idea.
  • The great meaning is transparent and strong.
  • One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
What to consider
  • The meaning depends on characters the Latin alphabet cannot show.
  • Tone is lost entirely in English.
  • It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.

Nobody names a baby alone.
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Tai

Masculine · #2516 in the U.S.

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Frequently asked

How many Tais are there in the world?
No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,000 people named Tai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
How do you spell Tai?
Tai is the most-used spelling in US records — 53 of the 63 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Tay.
How popular is the name Tai in 2025?
Tai ranks #2516 among US boy names in 2025, with 53 babies given the name.
How rare is the name Tai?
About 1 in every 32,228 US boys born in 2025 was named Tai — 53 in all.
Will my child share the name Tai with classmates?
Tai will almost certainly be the only one in school.

Ranked beside Tai

Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.

Tahir#2516 · Rye#2516 · Neymar#2516 · Alphonse#2516 · Austen#2516 · Saleem#2516 · Stuart#2516 · Jariel#2516

Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tai? See the current top 100.

Choosing between Tai and another name?

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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology

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