English2 syllablesUnisex
Meaning: a tailor; literally one who cuts cloth.
Taylor
| Origin | English — occupational surname, from Old French tailleur |
|---|---|
| Meaning | A tailor, from Old French tailler (to cut), from Late Latin taliare (to split, to cut) |
| Pronunciation | TAY-lur (two syllables) |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100 for boys, and now given to considerably more girls than boys in the United States |
| Variants | Tayler, Tailor (spelling variants only) |
| Nicknames | Tay, Ty |
| Gender note | Unisex from the start in Britain and Australia; decisively female-leaning in America since the 1990s |
History & meaning
Taylor is one of the half-dozen commonest surnames in the English-speaking world, and it means exactly what it looks like. The root is Old French tailleur, an agent noun from tailler, to cut, which descends from Late Latin taliare. The detail worth knowing is that the tailor is named for cutting rather than sewing: cutting was the skilled, expensive part of the trade, and stitching could be handed to anyone. The surname is on English rolls from the thirteenth century.
As a given name it is a twentieth-century American development, and the honest headline is about gender. Taylor entered use for boys in the 1980s, but girls' usage overtook it within a few years and never gave the lead back. Today it is given to far more girls than boys in the United States, a tilt that Taylor Swift's career has only steepened. In Britain and Australia the name stayed closer to genuinely unisex.
Why parents choose it
It is friendly, unfussy and completely unambiguous in spelling and sound, which is rarer than it should be. Parents choosing it for a boy today are generally choosing it knowingly, either for a family surname or because they like a name that carries no aggression at all. It is also one of the few surname names that shortens naturally, since Tay works as well as the full form.
Middle names for Taylor
A masculine anchor after Taylor does most of the work: Taylor James, Taylor Wyatt, Taylor Reid, Taylor Alexander. Avoid another -er ending, which turns the pair into a firm of solicitors. See the middle names guide for the full method.
Famous Taylors
Taylor Hawkins drummed for the Foo Fighters from 1997 until his death in 2022. Taylor Lautner played Jacob Black in the Twilight films. Taylor Hall was the first overall pick of the 2010 NHL draft and won the Hart Trophy in 2018. Taylor Hicks won the fifth season of American Idol, and Taylor Heinicke has started at quarterback in the NFL.
Consider instead
If the female tilt puts you off, Tanner and Tucker are trade surnames of the same era that stayed with boys. Spencer keeps the soft, well-mannered sound while reading distinctly male.