Fun Facts About the Name Taft
- More than 1 thousand babies named Taft: U.S. records list 1,544 babies given the name Taft from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Taft Mean?
Taft is an English surname that is also used as a given name, and it comes from the English word toft, meaning a homestead - a house together with the land belonging to it, or a plot of ground set aside for building. That word is traced to Old Norse topt, also written toft, which carried the same sense of a dwelling site.
Old Norse speech spread through northern and eastern England during the Scandinavian settlements, and toft became part of English usage. As a surname, Taft is either topographic, for someone who lived at a toft, or habitational, taken from a place named with the word. The spelling with a is a variant of the more common Toft.
Taft Name History & Origins
The word toft survives in English place names concentrated in the regions of Norse settlement, such as Toft in Lincolnshire and Toft Monks in Norfolk. Surnames formed from such words became hereditary in England during the later Middle Ages, and Taft appears in English records alongside the form Toft.
Emigrants carried the surname to New England in the seventeenth century. Robert Taft, who settled in Braintree, Massachusetts, and later in Mendon, is the ancestor of the American Taft family that includes William Howard Taft, the twenty-seventh president of the United States. As a first name, Taft is uncommon and chiefly American, used occasionally as a surname-derived given name.
How Popular is the Name Taft?
Taft recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1908. Its best rank was #273 in 1908.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,171 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #9,727 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2023 | #8,183 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #10,714 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2021 | #5,085 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2020 | #5,944 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2019 | #7,119 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #4,897 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2017 | #6,296 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2016 | #4,599 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2015 | #4,681 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2014 | #5,962 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2013 | #5,365 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2012 | #6,983 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2011 | #8,673 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2010 | #5,015 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2009 | #5,285 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2008 | #8,912 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #9,666 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2006 | #13,761 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2005 | #6,578 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2003 | #7,180 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2002 | #6,031 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #7,434 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2000 | #6,768 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1998 | #11,103 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1997 | #8,008 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #8,872 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #8,748 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #6,296 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1993 | #6,164 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1992 | #5,589 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1991 | #5,054 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1990 | #4,641 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1989 | #4,774 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1988 | #4,132 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1987 | #4,204 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1986 | #4,422 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1985 | #5,698 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1984 | #3,662 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1983 | #5,421 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #4,940 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1981 | #6,162 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #7,182 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #4,364 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1978 | #6,648 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1977 | #4,126 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1976 | #5,520 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1975 | #2,627 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 1973 | #2,592 | 15 | 0.0010% |
| 1972 | #2,971 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1971 | #2,360 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1970 | #3,801 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1969 | #3,289 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1968 | #2,023 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1967 | #2,458 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1966 | #3,218 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1965 | #2,459 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1964 | #2,195 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1963 | #2,657 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1962 | #2,269 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1961 | #2,400 | 13 | 0.0006% |
| 1960 | #2,198 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1959 | #3,020 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1958 | #2,085 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1957 | #2,184 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1956 | #2,159 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1955 | #2,213 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1954 | #2,035 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1953 | #1,949 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1952 | #2,363 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1951 | #3,328 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1950 | #2,562 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1949 | #1,609 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 1948 | #2,309 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1947 | #1,982 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1946 | #2,673 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1945 | #1,687 | 17 | 0.0013% |
| 1944 | #2,185 | 12 | 0.0009% |
| 1943 | #1,899 | 16 | 0.0011% |
| 1942 | #2,253 | 12 | 0.0009% |
| 1941 | #1,525 | 21 | 0.0017% |
| 1940 | #1,886 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1939 | #2,804 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1938 | #1,610 | 19 | 0.0017% |
| 1937 | #1,683 | 18 | 0.0017% |
| 1936 | #2,052 | 13 | 0.0013% |
| 1935 | #2,020 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1934 | #1,546 | 21 | 0.0020% |
| 1933 | #2,356 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1932 | #1,544 | 22 | 0.0021% |
| 1931 | #2,316 | 12 | 0.0012% |
| 1930 | #1,882 | 17 | 0.0015% |
| 1929 | #1,720 | 20 | 0.0019% |
| 1928 | #2,373 | 13 | 0.0012% |
| 1927 | #3,418 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1926 | #3,352 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1925 | #3,703 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1923 | #3,779 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1922 | #4,878 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1920 | #4,230 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1919 | #2,497 | 12 | 0.0012% |
| 1918 | #4,731 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1917 | #2,544 | 11 | 0.0012% |
| 1916 | #2,137 | 14 | 0.0016% |
| 1915 | #1,774 | 17 | 0.0020% |
| 1914 | #1,338 | 21 | 0.0032% |
| 1913 | #1,106 | 22 | 0.0043% |
| 1912 | #995 | 22 | 0.0051% |
| 1911 | #663 | 23 | 0.0102% |
| 1910 | #393 | 45 | 0.0232% |
| 1909 | #320 | 52 | 0.0317% |
| 1908 | #273 | 62 | 0.0402% |
| 1907 | #662 | 16 | 0.0109% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Taft Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You like to control everyone within your influence, to shape things to your own liking. If positive, you develop high spirituality, as you have a God's protection. You are sensitive, affectionate, imaginative and cooperative, spiritually aware and prone to self-sacrifice. You can keep secrets and are a good diplomat. You may have healing and psychic powers. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for an opportunity to achieve financial and emotional security. You are basically peacemaker. You understand the law of harmony and desire to balance your life with those around you. You may feel incomplete without someone to share your love, ideals, wealth or work. You can be very sensitive and could appear a bit shy and perceptive. You have developed intuition, patience and the ability to nurture others. You can achieve the state of happiness if you are willing to accept your needs in a complimentary relationship and go to create them.
✦ Taft's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Taft's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.