Given name & surname
Thayer
“of the nation's army”
Thayer is used as a given name and a surname. One interpretation is “of the nation's army.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One interpretation is “of the nation's army.”
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Thayer through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,437
- 1,358 boys · 79 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 52 babies
- 2025
- 15
- #6,106 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −50%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 15 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 6,106 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 47.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,192 as a first name in 2020; 15,779 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.
Thayer’s family of names
In French usage, Thayer has a conventional equivalent in the English form Taylor.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: across languages.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Thayer, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Cavell
“one who is bold”
>99% boys
Bevis
“an archer”
>99% boys
Iker
“a visitor”
>99% boys
Aimon
“ruler of the house; a protector”
>99% boys
Xavier
“owner of a new house” · “one who is bright”
>99% boys
Oscar
“a spear of the gods” · “a friend of deer”
>99% boys
Angel
“messenger” · “messenger of God”
87% boys · 13% girls
Kohen
Kohen is a masculine given name from Hebrew.
98% boys · 2% girls