Taro
A masculine Japanese given name derived from a word meaning "eldest son".
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Taro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Taro today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taro births was 1997 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taro. 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 Taro with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
1997
13 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,144
Tracked since 1919
Census
Taro in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 496 people with the first name Taro, which placed it at #20,722 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
#20,722
National first-name rank
People counted
496
496 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
58.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taro
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (17.5%) and White (8.7%). 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 Taro 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 Taro at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander58.7% · 291
- Two or more races17.5% · 87
- White8.7% · 43
- Black or African American8.3% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Taro: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taro from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 87 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
Taro 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 Taro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taros live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taro
The name Taro originated from Japan and has been in use since ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Japanese word "taro," which refers to a type of edible root vegetable that was commonly cultivated in the region. The name itself can be written using different kanji characters, with one variation meaning "thick root" and another meaning "great son."
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Taro can be found in the Kojiki, an ancient Japanese chronicle dating back to the early 8th century. In this text, Taro is depicted as a legendary figure who played a significant role in the mythological origins of Japan.
Throughout Japanese history, the name Taro has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Taro Katsura (1848-1913), a prominent Japanese statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1901 to 1908. He played a crucial role in modernizing Japan's political and economic systems during the Meiji era.
Another notable figure with the name Taro was Taro Okamoto (1911-1996), a renowned Japanese artist and sculptor. He is particularly famous for his abstract sculptures and his involvement in the avant-garde art movement in Japan during the 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Taro Yashima (1908-1994) was a celebrated author and illustrator of children's books. Born in Japan, he later immigrated to the United States and became known for his beautifully illustrated works that celebrated Japanese culture and traditions.
The name Taro has also been associated with the world of sports. Taro Daniel (born 1993) is a professional tennis player from Japan who has competed in various Grand Slam tournaments and achieved notable rankings on the ATP Tour.
Lastly, Taro Aso (born 1940) is a prominent Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. He has also held several other important positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance, and is known for his conservative political views.
People
Taro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taro 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
Taro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taro 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Taro a common name?
We classify Taro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taro most popular?
The single biggest year for Taro was 1997, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taro is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taro in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 496 people with the name Taro, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,722 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 Taro 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 Taro?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taro leans strongly male. 474 people counted with this name were male (97.3%), compared with 13 female bearers (2.7%). 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 Taro?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taro is Asian/Pacific Islander at 58.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (17.5%) and White (8.7%). 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 Taro most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Taro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.7% (291 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 Taro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taro 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 Taro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taro 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 Taro 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 the name Taro?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.