Tal
Feminine · “dew”
Tal is given to both — 548 girls and 1,265 boys since 1880. See Tal as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Tal is the Hebrew word for dew, and it is given to daughters and sons alike in Israel without anyone finding that remarkable. Modern Hebrew naming turned to the natural world deliberately, and a whole generation of names came out of it — dew, oak, wave, light — most of them usable for either child, because a word for weather has no sex.
How old is the name Tal?
Tal first appears in US birth records in 1963 — 62 years ago. The typical Tal alive today was born around 1992, making them about 33 years old. About 500 people named Tal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tal most popular?
Tal peaked in 1989, reaching #4121 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 10,821 places below that high. See the whole 1989 chart.
Where it comes from
From tal to Tal
The story of Tal
The revival of Hebrew as a spoken language brought with it a deliberate turn away from the European Jewish name stock and toward the vocabulary of the land itself. Names like Tal, Alon, Gal, Ilan, Ora and Shai came out of that project, and they share three features: they are short, they are ordinary words, and most of them are given to either child. That last point is the striking one — Hebrew has grammatical gender, and these names largely ignore it, which was a choice rather than an accident.
Meaning
dew
Hebrew tal is the ordinary word for dew, and it appears throughout the Hebrew Bible in that sense, often as an image of blessing arriving quietly and without being asked for. In a dry country dew is not a decoration; it is water. The name is that word used directly, which is standard in modern Hebrew naming. The meaning is not contested, and it is the same word an Israeli weather forecast uses.
How the name formed
- tal
- Tal
Related forms: טל · Talya · Talia
Pronouncing Tal
TAHL
TAHL, one syllable, the vowel open as in father rather than as in tall. English speakers often produce TAL rhyming with pal, which is close enough to be understood and is not quite the Hebrew vowel.
Nicknames for Tal
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
- 1963
- Most girls named
- 198923 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4121reached in 1989
- Change vs 2019
- 0.0%5 in 2025, from 5
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.
Tal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- טל in Hebrew — transliteration
- Talya in Hebrew — related form
- Talia in Hebrew — related form
Tals among us
people named Tal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Tal
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 Amorette test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tal's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Amorette climbed just as high around 1971, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Amorette's path sketches the road Tal is walking now.
Tal 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
Tal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable, which fits any surname without crowding it.
- The meaning is a single ordinary word and an unusually gentle one.
- It works for either child, and the tradition it comes from intends that rather than tolerating it.
- In English the vowel gets flattened, which moves the name away from how it is said in Hebrew.
- A three-letter name is treated as an abbreviation by forms and filing systems and will be queried.
- It leans to boys in American records without settling there, so on a list it decides nothing.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Tal
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Tal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tal in 2025?
- Tal ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tal?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Tal — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tal with classmates?
- Tal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tal and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
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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