as a Last Name
- 690
- people in the U.S. have this name Get contact details for people named Taira
Meaning & Origins
Japanese: ‘peace’. Together with the Fujiwara and Minamoto, this is one of the most prominent clans in Japanese history. It is listed in the Shinsen shōjiroku. The name appears to have been taken from Taira no Miyako (‘Capital of Peace’), an ancient name for the city of Kyōto, and was created in 825 by the ex-Emperor Kanmu when his son Takamune (804–867) became a commoner. Later emperors bestowed the name on some of their children, so the various branches of the clan were distinguished by the names of their parentemperors. The Taira are also commonly called Heike or Heishi, from the Sino-Japanese pronunciation of taira plus the words for family or clan
| 35,776th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Hundreds
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 690
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- Hawaii
- has the most people named Taira per capita
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map