Talan
Masculine
Talan is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 3,982 boys against 51 girls since 1880.
Talan arrived through sound rather than through a language, which makes it one of the honestly modern American names — its history is thirty years old and entirely documented.
How old is the name Talan?
Talan first appears in US birth records in 1985 — 40 years ago. The typical Talan alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 3,900 people named Talan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Talan most popular?
Talan peaked in 2006, reaching #309 nationally. Today it ranks #3379, 3,070 places below that high. See the whole 2006 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Talan
Our story of Talan is a story of a sound looking for a spelling. By the 1990s American parents had Dylan, Kalan, Jalen and Talon in their ears — two syllables, an -an ending, a soft consonant at the front — and the pattern generated new members faster than anyone recorded them. Talan is one of those. It appears in the registers from the late 1990s and rises with the pattern rather than from any source, which is a real kind of origin even if it is not an etymology.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No established etymology. It is sometimes attached to the Old French talent, 'inclination' or 'aptitude', and sometimes to Irish surnames beginning Tal-, but neither connection is documented. It is best read as a modern coinage in the Talon, Kalan, Dylan pattern.
Pronouncing Talan
TAL-un
Two syllables, stress on the first. Talan and Talon are said identically by most speakers.
Nicknames for Talan
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
- 1985
- Most boys named
- 20061,060 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #309reached in 2006
- Change vs 2024
- −12.8%34 in 2025, from 39
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.
Talan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Talon in English — related form
- Talen in English — spelling variant
- Tallan in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, North Carolina, Illinois.
Talans among us
people named Talan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 50,238 born in 2025 was named Talan
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 Jean test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Talan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jean climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jean's path sketches the road Talan is walking now.
Talan 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 Talan is headed
Talan should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Talan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Talan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two clean syllables that fit the current sound without being common.
- Tal is a short form with a genuine Hebrew name behind it.
- It is unusual enough to be distinctive in any classroom.
- There is no established meaning, and honest sources say so.
- Talon is the commoner spelling and is an ordinary English noun.
- It is closely dated to the 2000s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Talan
Masculine · #3379 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Talans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,900 people named Talan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Talan in 2025?
- Talan ranks #3379 among US boy names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Talan?
- About 1 in every 50,238 US boys born in 2025 was named Talan — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Talan with classmates?
- Talan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Talan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Art#3379 · Sampson#3379 · Kiernan#3379 · Benyamin#3379 · Quamir#3379 · Madhav#3379 · Tuff#3379 · Hubert#3379
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Talan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Talan 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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