Taylor

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled 'Taylor' in CH Switzerland.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 2 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Taylor is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate surname450K records spelled Taylor3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written T-Aylor

• Spanish surname431K records spelled Taylor3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico

117 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Taylor is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from AFr taillour, OFr tailleor, tailleur ‘tailor’; first attested Walter Taylur c1180 ArchC vi

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, An English and Scottish surname originating as an occupation for a tailor.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• Significado: La que llega lejos

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• In Irish, Táilliúir. This English occupational name (which is not used as a synonym of any Gaelic-Irish name) is well known in Ireland since the fourteenth century and is now very numerous both in Ulster and in Dublin. Bibl. MIF

  as a name·The Surnames of Ireland

• English: transferred use of the surname, which originated as an occupational name for a tailor, from Anglo-Norman French taillour , a derivative of taillier to cut (Late Latin t le re ).

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Zachary Taylorb. 1784USpresident of the United States from 1849 to 1850
• Frederick Winslow Taylorb. 1856USAmerican mechanical engineer (1856–1915)
• Lady Bird Johnsonb. 1912USnot in their usual nameFirst Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969
• Elizabeth Taylorb. 1932GBBritish-American actress (1932–2011)
• Joseph Hooton Taylorb. 1941USAmerican astronomer
• Charles Taylorb. 1948LR22nd president of Liberia
• Corey Taylorb. 1973USAmerican musician
• Christian Taylorb. 1990USAmerican track and field athlete
• Aaron Taylor-Johnsonb. 1990GBEnglish actor (born 1990)
• Anya Taylor-Joyb. 1996USactress (born 1996)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,248 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Taylor?

We estimate roughly 761 thousand people bear Taylor (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Taylor have the most bearers?

We estimate about 751 thousand people bear Taylor in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled taylor.

Where is Taylor most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Taylor is densest in St. Kitts & Nevis — about 1 in 259 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Taylor compared with other names?

In the United States, Taylor is the 15th most common surname of 7,257,200 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Taylor mean?

Recorded meaning: Occupational name from Old French tailleur ‘cutter’; in Scotland from the 13th century.