Tara
Feminine · “from Tara”
Tara is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 175,812 girls against 543 boys since 1880. See Tara as a boy name
Tara is an Irish place-name that became an American girl's name, two open syllables that are easy to love. It came to many American parents by way of a novel, and its most famous Irish treasure borrowed the name without ever having been there.
How old is the name Tara?
Tara first appears in US birth records in 1939 — 86 years ago. The typical Tara alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 169,000 people named Tara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tara most popular?
Tara peaked in 1977, reaching #35 nationally. Today it ranks #844, 809 places below that high. See the whole 1977 chart.
Where it comes from
From Teamhair to Tara
The story of Tara
Margaret Mitchell named the O'Hara plantation in Gone with the Wind Tara, after the Irish hill, and the novel and the film made the word familiar to millions of Americans who had never heard of Meath. In Ireland the name had already been borrowed once: a splendid eighth-century brooch found on a beach at Bettystown was sold by a Dublin jeweler as the Tara Brooch, a name chosen for its romance, though it had nothing to do with Tara. The name is recorded for a very few boys, but it is a girl's name everywhere.
Meaningscholars disagree
from Tara, the Irish hill of kings
Tara is the English form of Irish Teamhair, the royal hill in County Meath; its own meaning is debated, often explained as a height or a place with a view. It is also a separate Sanskrit word for star.
How the name formed
- Teamhair
- Tara
Related forms: Teamhair · Tārā
Pronouncing Tara
TAIR-uh
Most Americans say TAIR-uh. In Ireland and Britain it is often TAH-ruh.
Nicknames for Tara
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1939
- Most girls named
- 19727,234 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #35reached in 1977
- Change vs 2023
- +54.8%322 in 2025, from 208
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tara in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Teamhair in Irish — related form
- Tārā in Sanskrit — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Taras among us
people named Tara are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 4,992 born in 2025 was named Tara
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jane test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tara's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jane climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jane's path sketches the road Tara is walking now.
Tara is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Tara is headed
Tara should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Tara beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tara in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, warm and easy to spell.
- It carries a real Irish history.
- It is familiar without being common among babies now.
- Many will think of the plantation in Gone with the Wind, with the history that comes with it.
- British and Irish speakers will say it differently.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Tara to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tara
Feminine · #844 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Taras are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 169,000 people named Tara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tara in 2025?
- Tara ranks #844 among US girl names in 2025, with 322 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tara?
- About 1 in every 4,992 US girls born in 2025 was named Tara — 322 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tara with classmates?
- Tara will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tara
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elani#844 · Ensley#844 · Honey#844 · Hunter#841 · Michaela#841 · Amayah#841 · Lea#848 · Kendra#849
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tara? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tara and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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