Taiwo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Yoruba Táíwò (“The first child born in a set of twins”).

Proper noun

Taiwo (plural Taiwos)

1. A surname from Yoruba.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Taiwo is the 37029^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 603 individuals. Taiwo is most common among Black/African American (95.52%) individuals.

Further reading

• Hanks, Patrick, editor (2003), “Taiwo”, in Dictionary of American Family Names, volume 3, New York City: Oxford University Press, →ISBN.

Yoruba

Alternative forms

• Táyé
• Táíyé
• Táyéwò

Etymology

From tọ́ (“to taste”) +‎ ayé (“the world, life”) +‎ wò (“to try”), literally “To taste life first”

• This comes from a Yoruba story in which it is believed the first twin is sent to the world first by its older sibling (Kẹ́hìndé) to see if the world is good to enter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tá.í.wò/

Proper noun

Táíwò

1. a unisex given name, an orúkọ àmútọ̀runwá given to the first child in a set of twins or triplet
2. a surname, from the given name Táíwò

Usage notes

• The form Táíwò is often used for a male child, while Táyé is used for a female child, but this is not always consistent and the both names are often used in a unisex way

Related terms

• Kẹ́yìndé
• Àárínọlá, Ẹ̀ta