Tao is a distinctive choice, ranked #2089 in 2024. Your child is likely to be the only Tao in their class.
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UK Rank 2024
#2089
About the Name Tao
Tao is climbing rapidly up the charts, having climbed 315 places in just five years. Its best recorded rank was #1701 in 2023 — and current momentum suggests it could challenge that mark again. The name has been a consistent presence in UK records since 1999.
Tao is distinctive enough that your child will likely be the only one in both their class and their school — standing out on every register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Tao
Unlikely. With around 11 UK babies named Tao per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Tao in his class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Tao is currently rising in popularity in the UK, up 315 places over the last five years to #2089 in 2024. If this trend continues, it will become more common in classrooms over the next decade.
Tao is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Tao include: Tao Rodríguez-Seeger — Tao Rodríguez-Seeger is an American contemporary folk musician.; Bu Tao — Bu Tao, (simplified Chinese: 卜涛; traditional Chinese: 卜濤; pinyin: Bǔ Tāo; born 15 January 1983) is a left-handed pitcher for the Chinese national baseball...; Terence Tao — Terence Chi-Shen Tao is an Australian mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006 for his contributions to partial differential equations,....
Tao does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Taos in the wild.
11
UK babies named Tao (2024)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 315 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Tao
Likely around 1 other Tao in the class
UK Popularity (1999–2024)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Tao
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Bu Tao, (simplified Chinese: 卜涛; traditional Chinese: 卜濤; pinyin: Bǔ Tāo; born 15 January 1983) is a left-handed pitcher for the Chinese national baseball team. He competed in the 2006, 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classic representing China.
Terence Chi-Shen Tao is an Australian mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 2006 for his contributions to partial differential equations, combinatorics, harmonic analysis, and additive number theory. He is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he holds the James and Carol Collins Chair in the College of Letters and Sciences.
Tao Yuanming (陶淵明; 365–427), also known as Tao Qian (陶潜), courtesy name Yuanliang (元亮), was a Chinese poet and politician. He was one of the best-known poets who lived during the Six Dynasties period.