Taiwan
Masculine
Taiwan is given to both — 842 boys and 71 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
The island has carried three names in four centuries. The Portuguese called it Ilha Formosa, the beautiful island; the Dutch and Chinese took Tayouan from a local Siraya word for a sandbank; and Formosa was still standard in English within living memory.
How old is the name Taiwan?
Taiwan first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Taiwan alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 800 people named Taiwan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Taiwan most popular?
Taiwan peaked in 1976, reaching #1210 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,485 places below that high. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Tayouan to Taiwan
The story of Taiwan
Portuguese sailors passing in the sixteenth century recorded Ilha Formosa, the beautiful island, and Formosa remained the usual European name into the twentieth century; it is still on old maps and in the names of institutions. The Dutch East India Company built a fort in 1624 near a sandbank the local Siraya people called something like Tayouan, the Chinese wrote it with characters that gave Taiwan, and the name spread from the anchorage to the island. The island's own indigenous languages are Austronesian and are of enormous interest to linguists, since Taiwan is generally taken to be the homeland from which Austronesian speakers spread across the Pacific as far as Hawaii, New Zealand and Madagascar.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Taiwan is a place name, generally traced to Tayouan, a Siraya word for the sandbank near the Dutch fort at modern Tainan, which was extended to the whole island. As an American given name it may be taken from the place or built from the Ta- prefix; the two cannot be separated. The peak is 1976.
How the name formed
- Tayouan
- Taiwan
Related forms: Formosa
Pronouncing Taiwan
TIE-wahn
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Mandarin has a tone on each syllable that English does not reproduce.
Nicknames for Taiwan
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 197651 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1210reached in 1976
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%6 in 2025, from 6
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.
Taiwan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Formosa in Portuguese — related form
Taiwans among us
people named Taiwan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Taiwan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Timm test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Taiwan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Timm climbed just as high around 1959, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Timm's path sketches the road Taiwan is walking now.
Taiwan 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
Taiwan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Taiwan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables and six letters, spelled as heard.
- Tai works as a short form.
- The place behind it is real and easy to locate.
- It names a country, which some settings will notice.
- It has no meaning as a personal name.
- The 1976 peak dates it closely.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Taiwan
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Taiwans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Taiwan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Taiwan in 2025?
- Taiwan ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Taiwan?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Taiwan — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Taiwan with classmates?
- Taiwan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Taiwan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Taiwan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Taiwan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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