Taras
Masculine
Taras is Ukraine's name for its own conscience. Taras Shevchenko was born into serfdom, bought out of it by admirers who recognized what he could do, and wrote the poems that made Ukrainian a literary language rather than a peasant dialect. He was arrested for them, exiled for a decade, and forbidden to write or paint; the ban did not work.
How old is the name Taras?
Taras first appears in US birth records in 1922 — 103 years ago. The typical Taras alive today was born around 1974, making them about 51 years old. About 600 people named Taras are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Taras most popular?
Taras peaked in 1969, reaching #1326 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 10,682 places below that high. See the whole 1969 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Taras to Taras
The story of Taras
Tarasios was patriarch of Constantinople at the turn of the ninth century and is honored as a saint in the Orthodox churches, which is how a Greek name became a Slavic one. In Ukraine it was ordinary until Shevchenko made it national: his collected poems are still called simply the Kobzar, and his portrait hangs where other countries hang founders. Gogol gave the name a second literary life with a novel about a Cossack. American records carry it from Ukrainian families, and it has stayed small, steady and unmistakably particular here.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Slavic name comes from the Greek Tarasios, and Tarasios comes from Taras, the figure Greek myth credits with founding the city of Taranto in southern Italy. What the original name meant is not recoverable — it belongs to a layer older than the records, and the meanings offered for it are reconstructions.
How the name formed
- Taras
- Tarasios
- Taras
Related forms: Taras · Taras · Tarasios · Tarasz
Pronouncing Taras
tah-RAHS
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is the Ukrainian saying. Americans reliably put it at the front instead, giving TAR-us, and that has become the usual version here.
Nicknames for Taras
Moderate
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
- 1922
- Most boys named
- 196620 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1326reached in 1969
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%5 in 2025, from 6
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.
Taras in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Taras in Ukrainian — same name
- Taras in Russian — same name
- Tarasios in Greek — same name
- Tarasz in Polish — same name
Tarass among us
people named Taras are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Taras
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 Verdell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Taras's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Verdell climbed just as high around 1936, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Verdell's path sketches the road Taras is walking now.
Taras sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Taras beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Taras in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is a national name in Ukraine with a documented figure of real stature behind it.
- Five letters, two syllables, and nothing an English reader stumbles over.
- It is genuinely rare in America without being unpronounceable, which is a narrow and useful gap.
- Americans will move the stress to the front, and correcting that is the child's ongoing task.
- It is easily confused with Tarass, Taurus and Tara, none of which is related.
- The name is strongly identified with one country, which is a fact to weigh rather than a fault.
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What they receive
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Taras
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tarass are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Taras are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Taras in 2025?
- Taras ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Taras?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Taras — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Taras with classmates?
- Taras will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Taras
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Migel#12008 · Tam#12008 · Lydell#12008 · Johnell#12008 · Caron#12008 · Bubba#12008 · Nicholaus#12008 · Brandy#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Taras? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Taras and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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