Tao
- Gender
- Boy
- Origin
- Chinese
- UK rank, 2025
- #3,021 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #5,606 for boys
Tao is a boys' name of Chinese origin. In 2025 it ranked 3,021st for boys in the UK (7 babies) and 5,606th for boys in the US (16 babies).
What does Tao mean?
Chinese
A unisex given name from Mandarin.
From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Is Tao a girl's or a boy's name?
Tao is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 7 boys in the UK and 16 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Tao in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 3,021st among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 7 about 1 in 43,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Rising up 50% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 7 boys in the UK were named Tao, making it the 3,021st most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 2,562nd. Its busiest year was 2023, with 15 boys.
2025 had fewer boys named Tao than any year since 2019.
Half of all the boys named Tao in the UK since 1996 were born between 2007 and 2021, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among boys in 2025, it was 2,938th in England and Wales.
Tao in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #3,021 |
| 2024 | 11 | #2,149 |
| 2023 | 15 | #1,715 |
| 2022 | 13 | #1,886 |
| 2021 | 11 | #2,100 |
| 2020 | 8 | #2,562 |
| 2019 | 6 | #3,184 |
| 2018 | 8 | #2,576 |
| 2017 | 5 | #3,608 |
| 2016 | 9 | #2,468 |
| 2015 | 5 | #3,527 |
| 2014 | 8 | #2,593 |
| 2013 | 10 | #2,176 |
| 2012 | 5 | #3,572 |
| 2011 | 6 | #3,038 |
| 2010 | 12 | #1,887 |
| 2009 | 7 | #2,679 |
| 2008 | 8 | #2,384 |
| 2007 | 7 | #2,554 |
| 2006 | 7 | #2,386 |
| 2005 | 8 | #2,090 |
| 2004 | 6 | #2,399 |
| 2003 | 4 | #2,990 |
| 2002 | 6 | #2,106 |
| 2001 | 7 | #1,833 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 7 | #1,749 |
How popular is Tao in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 5,606th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 16 about 1 in 110,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 16 boys in the US were named Tao, making it the 5,606th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 8,062nd. Its busiest year was 2021, with 20 boys. It first appears in the records in 1970.
Half of all the boys named Tao in the US since 1880 were born between 2000 and 2017, the years shaded on the chart below.
Tao in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 16 | #5,606 |
| 2024 | 8 | #8,982 |
| 2023 | 12 | #6,892 |
| 2022 | 16 | #5,629 |
| 2021 | 20 | #4,776 |
| 2020 | 9 | #8,062 |
| 2019 | 9 | #8,209 |
| 2018 | 13 | #6,341 |
| 2017 | 11 | #7,091 |
| 2016 | 17 | #5,314 |
| 2015 | 15 | #5,742 |
| 2014 | 13 | #6,303 |
| 2013 | 7 | #9,650 |
| 2012 | 15 | #5,714 |
| 2011 | 15 | #5,670 |
| 2010 | 16 | #5,475 |
| 2009 | 15 | #5,796 |
| 2008 | 9 | #8,319 |
| 2007 | 12 | #6,618 |
| 2006 | 13 | #6,090 |
| 2005 | 10 | #7,089 |
| 2004 | 9 | #7,530 |
| 2003 | 11 | #6,251 |
| 2002 | 15 | #4,913 |
| 2001 | 11 | #6,006 |
| 2000 | 11 | #5,913 |
| 1999 | 6 | #8,697 |
| 1998 | 0 | – |
| 1997 | 5 | #9,259 |
| 1996 | 0 | – |
| 1995 | 6 | #7,785 |
| 1994 | 0 | – |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 0 | – |
| 1991 | 6 | #7,263 |
| 1990 | 0 | – |
| 1989 | 7 | #6,222 |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 6 | #5,920 |
| 1985 | 5 | #6,517 |
| 1984 | 10 | #3,922 |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 0 | – |
| 1981 | 0 | – |
| 1980 | 9 | #4,133 |
| 1979 | 0 | – |
| 1978 | 5 | #5,769 |
| 1977 | 5 | #5,843 |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 5 | #5,462 |
| 1974 | 7 | #4,188 |
| 1973 | 9 | #3,443 |
| 1972 | 8 | #3,620 |
| 1971 | 0 | – |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,228 |
Names like Tao
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Yug, Shko, Tai, Minh, Kairo, Loki, Rumi, Taio, Yoan, Guto, Yitzchok, Yusuf
Names related to Tao
More Chinese names
Lian, Jia, Mei, Tian, Jun, Mulan, Yi, San, Jian, Han, Mian, Bao, Xia, Lin, Yichen, Ming
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Tao: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/tao, updated 20 October 2026.