Talon
A masculine name meaning "claw or talon of a bird of prey".
Name Census estimates that about 12,686 living Americans carry the first name Talon. It is a predominantly male name (95.8% of registrations). The average person named Talon today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talon births was 2006 (679 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talon. 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 Talon with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Talon is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 535 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 27,018 Americans
Peak year
2006
679 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,045
Tracked since 1975
Census
Talon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,247 people with the first name Talon, which placed it at #2,424 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
#2,424
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,247 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talon is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Talon 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 Talon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 7,657
- Two or more races8.9% · 907
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 743
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 401
- Black or African American3.9% · 398
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 141
Gender
Gender distribution for Talon
Talon leans heavily male at 95.8% of total registrations, but 535 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Talon as a male name
- Ranked #1,045 in 2024
- 211 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (661 births)
Talon as a female name
- Ranked #9,461 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talon leans strongly male. 9,810 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 436 female bearers (4.3%).
Popularity
Talon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talon from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,582 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Talon 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 Talon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Talons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Talon, while Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 221 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Talon
The name Talon has its origins in Old French and Middle English, derived from the word "talon" meaning the heel or back part of the foot. It is believed to have been used as a surname initially, referring to someone with a distinctive physical characteristic or possibly a nickname for a person with a notable heel or gait.
The earliest recorded use of Talon as a given name dates back to the 13th century in France. During this period, it was not uncommon for surnames to transition into first names, especially those with unique or distinctive meanings.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Talon was Jean Talon, a French nobleman and the first Intendant of New France (modern-day Canada) from 1665 to 1668. He played a crucial role in the development and administration of the French colony, overseeing various reforms and policies aimed at promoting economic growth and population expansion.
In the 16th century, Talon appeared in the works of French poet and dramatist Pierre de Ronsard, who mentioned a character named Talon in one of his plays. This literary reference suggests that the name had gained some recognition and usage during that era.
Another notable figure with the name Talon was Omer Talon, a French lawyer and statesman who lived from 1595 to 1652. He served as the Attorney General of France and was known for his unwavering commitment to upholding the law and defending the rights of the French monarchy.
In the 19th century, Talon was the first name of Talon de Vugelles, a French military officer and diplomat who served as the Ambassador of France to Spain from 1851 to 1853. He played a significant role in strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries during his tenure.
More recently, in the 20th century, Talon Winborne was an American football player who played as a running back for the New York Giants in the National Football League (NFL) from 1966 to 1970. He was born in 1944 and had a successful career, earning recognition for his agility and speed on the field.
While the name Talon has its roots in French and English language origins, it has since been adopted and used across various cultures and regions around the world, often carrying connotations of strength, agility, and distinctive characteristics.
People
Talon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talon 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
Talon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talon 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 27,018 US residents.
Is Talon a common name?
We classify Talon as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,854 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talon most popular?
The single biggest year for Talon was 2006, when 679 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talon is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Talon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,247 people with the name Talon, or 3.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,424 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 Talon 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 Talon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talon leans strongly male. 9,810 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 436 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Talon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talon is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.9%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Talon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Talon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (7,657 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 Talon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Talon a male name?
Yes, 95.8% of people registered as Talon 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 Talon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Talon 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 Talon 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 Talon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.