Given name & surname
Tait
“one who is cheerful; pleasant and bright”
Tait is a variant of Taite. One English interpretation is “one who is cheerful; pleasant and bright.” Tait is a variant of Tate. One English interpretation is “a cheerful man; one who brings happiness to others.” Its derivation is not certain.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Tait is a variant of Taite. One English interpretation is “one who is cheerful; pleasant and bright.” Tait is a variant of Tate. One English interpretation is “a cheerful man; one who brings happiness to others.” Its derivation is not certain.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Tait is a variant of Taite. An origin associated with Taite is English. Tait is a variant of Tate. A possible origin is English, although the derivation remains uncertain.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
From Middle English Tayte, from Middle English tayt, from Old Norse teitr (“cheerful, glad”), from Proto-Germanic *taitaz (“glad, delicate, tender, radiant”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1967. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tait through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,223
- 1,207 boys · 16 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 44 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −44%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 10 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 44 in 2007. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,220 as a first name in 2020; 5,993 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tait’s family of names
Tait has a related form in Tate. Tait has a related form in Taite. In Greek usage, Tait as a surname is a transliteration of Τάιτ.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Similar names
If you love Tait, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.