Talan
A variant spelling of Talen, of Native American origin meaning "wind traveler."
Name Census estimates that about 3,958 living Americans carry the first name Talan. It is a predominantly male name (98.7% of registrations). The average person named Talan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talan births was 2006 (1,081 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talan. 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 Talan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Talan is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 51 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Talan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.0K
~ 1 in 86,598 Americans
Peak year
2006
1,081 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,140
Tracked since 1985
Census
Talan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,525 people with the first name Talan, which placed it at #5,019 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
#5,019
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talan is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Talan 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 Talan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.1% · 2,681
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 297
- Two or more races7.2% · 254
- Black or African American3.1% · 108
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 101
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 84
Gender
Gender distribution for Talan
Talan leans heavily male at 98.7% of total registrations, but 51 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Talan as a male name
- Ranked #3,140 in 2024
- 39 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (1,060 births)
Talan as a female name
- Ranked #18,942 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2006 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talan leans strongly male. 3,431 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 99 female bearers (2.8%).
Popularity
Talan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,644 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Talan 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 Talan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Talans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Talan, while North Dakota, Montana, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Talan
The name Talan has its origins in the ancient Celtic languages, particularly in Welsh and Breton. It is believed to have derived from the Proto-Celtic word "talandos," meaning "tending to be borne" or "bearing fruit." This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with concepts of fertility, abundance, and productivity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Talan can be found in the Mabinogion, a collection of medieval Welsh tales and mythology. The character Talan Ferchgeidfran appears as a warrior and cousin of the legendary heroes Pryderi and Manawyddan. This reference dates back to around the 11th or 12th century, showcasing the antiquity of the name's usage.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Talan ap Caradog was a prominent Welsh nobleman and landowner. He played a role in the conflicts between the Welsh princes and the English monarchs during that turbulent period of history.
Moving forward to the 16th century, Talan Bediyr was a renowned Breton poet and bard. His works captured the essence of Breton culture and language, contributing to the preservation of the region's literary heritage.
In the realm of religious history, there is a record of a Benedictine monk named Talan who lived in the late 7th century. He was known for his piety and dedication to monastic life, and his name is associated with the establishment of a monastery in what is now modern-day France.
More recently, in the 20th century, Talan Iskenan was a celebrated Breton writer and activist. Born in 1905, he played a significant role in promoting and preserving the Breton language and culture through his literary works and advocacy efforts.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Talan throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Talan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talan 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
Talan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,958 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talan 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 86,598 US residents.
Is Talan a common name?
We classify Talan as "Rare". It ranks above 96% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,999 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talan most popular?
The single biggest year for Talan was 2006, when 1,081 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Talan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,525 people with the name Talan, or 1.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,019 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 Talan 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 Talan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talan leans strongly male. 3,431 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 99 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Talan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talan is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). 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 Talan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Talan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.1% (2,681 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 Talan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Talan a male name?
Yes, 98.7% of people registered as Talan 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 Talan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Talan 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 Talan 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 named Talan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.