Taj
Feminine · “Crown”
Taj is given to both — 571 girls and 5,719 boys since 1880. See Taj as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Taj is a crown. The Persian word traveled into Arabic, Urdu and Hindi and gave the Taj Mahal its name — which is not a crown palace but a shortening of Mumtaz Mahal, the empress it was built for. The girls' peak in America is 1973.
How old is the name Taj?
Taj first appears in US birth records in 1965 — 60 years ago. The typical Taj alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 600 people named Taj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Taj most popular?
Taj peaked in 1973, reaching #3971 nationally. Today it ranks #5410, 1,439 places below that high. See the whole 1973 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From tāj to Taj
The story of Taj
Tāj is Persian and spread with Persian as a court language across the Islamic world; it appears in compounds like Tajuddin, crown of the faith, and as a name on its own for both sexes. The Taj Mahal, built at Agra between 1632 and 1653 for Shah Jahan's wife, made the word internationally famous. Its American use as a given name begins in the 1960s and 1970s, in the same period as the general American interest in South Asian names and words; the girls' peak in 1973 sits with that, and the boys' use is larger and slightly later.
Meaning
Crown
From Persian tāj, a crown or diadem, borrowed into Arabic, Urdu and Hindi with the same sense. The reading is settled. The Taj Mahal's name is generally explained as a contraction of Mumtaz Mahal, the title of the empress Arjumand Banu Begum, rather than as crown palace directly, though both explanations circulate.
How the name formed
- tāj
- Taj
Related forms: تاج · تاج · تاج · ताज
Pronouncing Taj
TAHZH
One syllable. The Persian and Urdu j is the j of jam; the French-influenced English pronunciation TAHZH, with the s of measure, is also widely used, and both are heard for the monument.
Nicknames for Taj
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
- 1965
- Most girls named
- 202429 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3971reached in 1973
- Change vs 2024
- −20.7%23 in 2025, from 29
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.
Taj in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- تاج in Persian — transliteration
- تاج in Arabic — same name
- تاج in Urdu — same name
- ताज in Hindi — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Tajs among us
people named Taj are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 69,881 born in 2025 was named Taj
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 Madaleine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Taj's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Madaleine climbed just as high around 1923, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Madaleine's path sketches the road Taj is walking now.
Taj 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
Taj beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Taj in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, short and about as grand as a single syllable gets.
- Three letters make it as compact as a name can be.
- Everyone recognizes the word from the monument.
- The final consonant is said two ways in English.
- It is used for both sexes and reads as unisex.
- The monument is an overwhelming association.
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What they receive
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Taj
Feminine · #5410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tajs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Taj are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Taj in 2025?
- Taj ranks #5410 among US girl names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Taj?
- About 1 in every 69,881 US girls born in 2025 was named Taj — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Taj with classmates?
- Taj will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Taj
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aina#5410 · Sherry#5410 · Kathia#5410 · Analicia#5410 · Divya#5410 · Halimah#5410 · Sameera#5410 · Leo#5410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Taj? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Taj and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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