Taiga
Meaning "grand valley" or "big field", a Russian name of Turkic origin.
Name Census estimates that about 348 living Americans carry the first name Taiga. It is a predominantly male name (96.9% of registrations). The average person named Taiga today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taiga births was 2010 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taiga. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Taiga with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
348
~ 1 in 984,926 Americans
Peak year
2010
26 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,659
Tracked since 1997
Census
Taiga in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 328 people with the first name Taiga, which placed it at #27,731 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
#27,731
National first-name rank
People counted
328
328 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
59.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taiga
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taiga is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.0%) and White (12.8%). 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 Taiga 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 Taiga at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander59.8% · 196
- Two or more races21.0% · 69
- White12.8% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 12
- Black or African American2.7% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Taiga
Taiga leans heavily male at 96.9% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Taiga as a male name
- Ranked #7,659 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (26 births)
Taiga as a female name
- Ranked #17,358 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taiga leans strongly male. 287 people counted with this name were male (86.4%), compared with 45 female bearers (13.6%).
Popularity
Taiga: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taiga from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 132 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Taiga remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taiga 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 Taiga during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taigas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taiga
The name Taiga originates from the Japanese language and is believed to have roots dating back to the ancient times of Japan's history. It is derived from the word "taiga," which refers to the vast boreal forests found in the northern regions of the country.
In Japanese culture, the taiga forests were revered for their natural beauty and were often associated with strength, resilience, and the abundance of life. The name Taiga is thought to have been bestowed upon children as a symbolic representation of these qualities, with the hope that they would embody the characteristics of the mighty taiga forests.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Taiga can be found in the historical chronicles of the Heian period (794-1185 CE), where it was mentioned as the name of a minor nobleman. However, it was not until the Edo period (1603-1868 CE) that the name gained more widespread popularity among the samurai class and the aristocracy.
Throughout Japan's history, several notable individuals have borne the name Taiga. One of the most famous was Taiga Ishikawa (1738-1791), a renowned painter and calligrapher who was highly influential in the revival of the literati painting tradition in Japan during the Edo period.
Another notable figure was Taiga Hirasawa (1618-1680), a skilled swordsman and martial artist who served as a retainer to the powerful Tokugawa shogunate. His teachings and writings on the art of swordsmanship became widely studied and revered among samurai circles.
In the modern era, the name Taiga has continued to be used, though not as commonly as in the past. One notable bearer was Taiga Uranaka (1935-1999), a respected author and poet whose works explored themes of nature, spirituality, and the human condition.
The name Taiga has also found its way into popular culture, with a character bearing the name appearing in the acclaimed anime series "Toradora!" (2008-2009), further popularizing the name among younger generations.
While the name Taiga may not be as prevalent as it once was, its historical significance and connections to the natural world have ensured that it remains a revered and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with deep cultural roots and a connection to Japan's rich heritage.
People
Taiga + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taiga 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
Taiga: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taiga?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 348 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taiga 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 984,926 US residents.
Is Taiga a common name?
We classify Taiga as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 352 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taiga most popular?
The single biggest year for Taiga was 2010, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taiga is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taiga in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 328 people with the name Taiga, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,731 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 Taiga 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 Taiga?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taiga leans strongly male. 287 people counted with this name were male (86.4%), compared with 45 female bearers (13.6%). 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 Taiga?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taiga is Asian/Pacific Islander at 59.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (21.0%) and White (12.8%). 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 Taiga most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Taiga in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.8% (196 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 Taiga in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taiga a male name?
Yes, 96.9% of people registered as Taiga in the SSA data are male. 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 Taiga still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taiga 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 Taiga 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 many people are called Taiga?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.