Tacey
A feminine given name of Latin origin meaning "silent" or "peacefully calm".
Name Census estimates that about 272 living Americans carry the first name Tacey. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tacey today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tacey births was 1970 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tacey. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
272
~ 1 in 1,260,126 Americans
Peak year
1970
17 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,354
Tracked since 1950
Census
Tacey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 335 people with the first name Tacey, which placed it at #27,353 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#27,353
National first-name rank
People counted
335
335 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tacey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tacey is White at 80.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.9%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tacey described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tacey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.6% · 270
- Black or African American6.9% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 14
- Two or more races3.9% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 6
Popularity
Tacey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tacey from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tacey by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tacey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tacey
The name Tacey is thought to have its origins in the Old French language, emerging in the late medieval period around the 13th century. It is believed to be a feminine form of the French name Tasse, which was derived from the Germanic name Tasso or Tacia. These names are thought to have their roots in the Old High German word "tazza" or "tasse," meaning "cup" or "bowl."
In its earliest forms, the name Tacey was likely spelled as "Tacia" or "Tacya" and was primarily used in regions of France and parts of northern Italy. The earliest recorded instance of the name can be found in a historical document from the year 1274, which mentions a woman named "Tacia de Montfort" who was a noblewoman from the region of Normandy, France.
One of the earliest notable historical figures with the name Tacey was Tacya de Clermont, a French noblewoman who lived in the late 13th century. She was known for her involvement in the political affairs of her time and was a prominent figure in the court of King Philip IV of France.
In the 15th century, there was a renowned Italian painter named Tacya Baldassini, who was active in the city of Florence during the Renaissance period. Her works, which included religious paintings and frescoes, can still be found in various churches and museums throughout Italy.
During the 16th century, a woman named Tacey Willet gained notoriety in England for her involvement in the Protestant Reformation. She was a close associate of the reformer John Foxe and played a role in the publication of his famous work, "Actes and Monuments," also known as the "Book of Martyrs."
In the 17th century, Tacey Cromwell, a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War. She served as a messenger and spy for the Parliamentarian forces and was known for her bravery and dedication to the cause.
Another notable figure with the name Tacey was Tacey Lyttleton, an English writer and poet who lived in the 18th century. She was celebrated for her witty and satirical works, which often commented on the social and political issues of her time.
While the name Tacey has fallen somewhat out of common usage in recent centuries, its rich history and origins in Old French and Germanic languages make it a unique and intriguing name with a fascinating background.
People
Tacey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tacey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tacey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tacey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tacey going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,260,126 US residents.
Is Tacey a common name?
We classify Tacey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 305 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tacey most popular?
The single biggest year for Tacey was 1970, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tacey is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tacey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 335 people with the name Tacey, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,353 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tacey in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tacey?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tacey leans strongly female. 323 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 10 male bearers (3.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tacey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tacey is White at 80.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.9%) and Hispanic (4.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tacey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tacey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.6% (270 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tacey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tacey a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tacey in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tacey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tacey in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tacey can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Tacey?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.