Taitum
Of German origin, meaning "brave person" or "one who leads others".
Name Census estimates that about 565 living Americans carry the first name Taitum. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Taitum today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taitum births was 2011 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taitum. 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
565
~ 1 in 606,645 Americans
Peak year
2011
40 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,345
Tracked since 1997
Census
Taitum in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 474 people with the first name Taitum, which placed it at #21,431 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
#21,431
National first-name rank
People counted
474
474 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taitum
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taitum is White at 71.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Taitum 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 Taitum at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.5% · 339
- Black or African American9.9% · 47
- Two or more races9.5% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Taitum
Taitum leans heavily female at 82.1% of total registrations, but 102 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Taitum as a male name
- Ranked #10,667 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2011 (12 births)
Taitum as a female name
- Ranked #8,345 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (28 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taitum leans strongly female. 383 people counted with this name were female (80.3%), compared with 94 male bearers (19.7%).
Popularity
Taitum: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taitum 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 257 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Taitum remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taitum 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 Taitum during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taitums live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taitum
The name Taitum is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language, which was spoken by various tribes and communities across parts of Western Europe and the British Isles. The name is thought to be derived from the Celtic root word "tait," which means "beautiful" or "radiant."
In its earliest known form, the name was likely spelled "Taidh" or "Taidhg," with variations in spelling and pronunciation occurring as it spread across different regions and cultures. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in ancient Irish folklore and mythology, where it was associated with a legendary warrior or chieftain known for his bravery and strength.
As the Celtic tribes migrated and interacted with other cultures, the name underwent further transformations and adaptations. In the Middle Ages, it appeared in various historical records and chronicles, often associated with prominent figures in the realms of warfare, politics, and religion.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Taitum was Saint Taitum of Iona, a 6th-century Irish monk and scholar who played a significant role in the spread of Christianity throughout Scotland and the establishment of the famous monastery on the Isle of Iona (born around 520 AD).
During the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity among certain noble families in parts of Europe, particularly in Britain and Ireland. A prominent figure from this era was Taitum FitzGerald, an Irish nobleman and military commander who fought alongside King Henry VIII during the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century (born around 1500).
In the 17th century, a notable bearer of the name was Taitum O'Flaherty, an Irish chieftain and rebel leader who played a pivotal role in the Irish Confederate Wars against English rule (born around 1630).
Moving into the 18th century, Taitum MacNeil was a Scottish sailor and explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his famous voyages to the Pacific Ocean (born in 1745).
Another noteworthy individual from this period was Taitum Byrne, an Irish-American soldier and revolutionary who fought in the American Revolutionary War alongside George Washington's Continental Army (born in 1760).
While the name Taitum has maintained a certain level of popularity in certain regions and cultural contexts over the centuries, its usage and prevalence have ebbed and flowed throughout history, influenced by various social, cultural, and linguistic factors.
People
Taitum + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taitum 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
Taitum: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taitum?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 565 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taitum 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 606,645 US residents.
Is Taitum a common name?
We classify Taitum as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 571 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taitum most popular?
The single biggest year for Taitum was 2011, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taitum is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taitum in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 474 people with the name Taitum, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,431 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 Taitum 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 Taitum?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taitum leans strongly female. 383 people counted with this name were female (80.3%), compared with 94 male bearers (19.7%). 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 Taitum?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taitum is White at 71.5%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Two or More Races (9.5%). 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 Taitum most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Taitum in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.5% (339 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 Taitum in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taitum a female name?
Yes, 82.1% of people registered as Taitum 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 Taitum still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taitum 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 Taitum 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 have Taitum as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.