Tarrah
Feminine
Tarrah is one of the written forms of Tara, a name that arrives in America from at least three directions at once — an Irish hill, a Hollywood plantation, and a Buddhist goddess who is said to have been born from a tear. The last of these is the least known in the West and much the largest in the world.
How old is the name Tarrah?
Tarrah first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Tarrah alive today was born around 1985, making them about 40 years old. About 1,000 people named Tarrah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tarrah most popular?
Tarrah peaked in 1977, reaching #1034 nationally. See the whole 1977 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From an Irish hill and a Sanskrit word for a star to Tarrah
The story of Tarrah
In Tibetan and Nepali Buddhism, Tara is the most widely invoked figure after the Buddha himself. The story told about her origin is that she was born from a tear shed by a bodhisattva who wept at the suffering of the world — the tear fell, a lotus opened, and she was inside it. She exists in a great many colors, each with its own function: the green one acts quickly, the white one gives long life, and there are twenty-one forms of her recited in a prayer that is said daily by millions of people. She is also, in one version of her story, a woman who refused to be reborn as a man in order to achieve enlightenment, on the grounds that there were quite enough of those already.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Irish word behind the hill has been read as a place of assembly or as a name of a woman in legend, and it is not settled. The Sanskrit word is a different thing entirely and means a star, or the one who carries you across. This spelling, with a doubled consonant and a final letter that is never sounded, points at none of them in particular. It is an American written variant, and the record does not say which of the three, if any, the family had in mind.
How the name formed
- an Irish hill and a Sanskrit word for a star
- Tara established as a Buddhist figure across the Himalaya
- a novel and a film give the name to an American plantation
- Tara enters US records in the 1960s
- Tarrah appears among the respellings
Related forms: Tara · Teamhair · Tara
Pronouncing Tarrah
TAR-uh
Two syllables, stress at the front. The first vowel divides families — the one in car for some, the one in carry for others — and the doubled r in this spelling pushes towards the second.
Nicknames for Tarrah
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
- 1971
- Most girls named
- 1977128 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1034reached in 1977
- Change vs 2014
- 0.0%5 in 2016, from 5
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.
Tarrah in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tara in Sanskrit — related form
- Teamhair in Irish — related form
- Tara in English — spelling variant
Tarrahs among us
people named Tarrah are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Tarrah sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The sound is short, open and familiar across several continents.
- It carries three separate histories, and a child can be given whichever one suits.
- The doubled consonant settles the first vowel, which the standard spelling leaves open.
- Tara is many times commoner and both extra letters will be dropped.
- The final letter is never sounded and exists only on the page.
- The American association is a house in a film about the Confederacy, which is worth knowing.
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Tarrah
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Tarrahs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Tarrah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tarrah in 2025?
- Tarrah is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Tarrah with classmates?
- Tarrah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Teresa#908 · Theresa#1548 · Tiffany#878 · Tammy#3645 · Taylor#403 · Tina#2778 · Tracy#2153 · Thelma#4661
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tarrah? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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