The municipality was named in honor of former United States President William Howard Taft, who served as Governor-General of the Philippines during the first decade of the 20th century.

Taft is one of the ancient pueblos in Samar situated in the eastern coast which was called Tubabao or Tubabaw in early times.

This town was originally named after the river called Malinaw, but since the river causes heavy floods during rainy season, people began calling the place Tubig, which means water in Waray-Waray.

The population of Taft, Eastern Samar, in the 2020 census was 18,786 people,[3] with a density of 81 inhabitants per square kilometre or 210 inhabitants per square mile.

Poverty Incidence of Taft Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]