girls' name ★ peaked 1972

Tara

Meaning high place Gender Girl Rank 2025 #847 Trend ↑ Rising 14%

Borrowed from Irish Teamhrach, genitive of Teamhair, from Old Irish Temair (literally “high place”).

Rank 2025
#847
among girls · ↑173 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
322
named Tara · +29% vs 2024
How common
1 in 4,992
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1972
7,268 babies
All-time total
176,355
#229 all-time among girls
First recorded
1939
in Social Security records

Tara popularity over time

176,355 babies have been named Tara since 1939, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
1.252.53.75518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – – – – – –
1920s – – – – – –
1930s 7 – 7 1 – #3,745
1940s 392 – 392 39 +5500% #943
1950s 3,175 – 3,175 318 +710% #384
1960s 14,543 40 14,583 1,458 +359% #107
1970s 65,072 252 65,324 6,532 +348% #35
1980s 56,338 200 56,538 5,654 -13% #43
1990s 23,370 51 23,421 2,342 -59% #85
2000s 8,572 – 8,572 857 -63% #239
2010s 2,911 – 2,911 291 -66% #775
2020s (to 2025) 1,432 – 1,432 239 -18% #847

Where Tara is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 330 0.21 outside top 500
2027 337 0.21 outside top 500
2028 343 0.21 outside top 500
2029 348 0.22 outside top 500
2030 353 0.22 outside top 500

Where Tara is most popular

Girls named Tara per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.152 per 1,000. Strongest in Washington, Illinois, and Massachusetts.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Tara born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Washington 60 0.415 +174%
Illinois 76 0.332 +119%
Massachusetts 37 0.306 +102%
California 234 0.278 +83%
New Jersey 50 0.277 +83%
New York 103 0.260 +71%
Connecticut 12 0.206 +36%
North Carolina 45 0.198 +30%
Texas 128 0.159 +5%
Virginia 26 0.153 ≈ national
Georgia 32 0.141 -7%
Maryland 14 0.132 -13%
Pennsylvania 29 0.123 -19%
Minnesota 13 0.120 -21%
Ohio 25 0.105 -31%
Michigan 19 0.104 -31%
Colorado 11 0.099 -35%
Florida 39 0.091 -40%
Louisiana 6 0.069 -55%
Utah 5 0.060 -60%
Kentucky 5 0.058 -61%
Indiana 7 0.050 -67%
Tennessee 7 0.044 -71%
Arizona 5 0.036 -77%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Kansas – – –
Maine – – –
Missouri – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Tara

Tara is uncommon for girls in the United States, ranked #847 in 2025 with 322 babies given the name. It is currently holding steady compared with a decade ago.

Since 1939, 176,355 American babies have been named Tara. Its peak came in 1972, when 7,268 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1970s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Tara stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Tara?

The median living Tara is about 44 years old; half are between 37 and 51. An estimated 170 thousand people named Tara are alive in the United States today.

median 44 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Tara year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 322 #847 – –
2024 249 #1,020 – –
2023 208 #1,163 – –
2022 240 #1,061 – –
2021 212 #1,158 – –
2020 201 #1,164 – –
2019 257 #1,006 – –
2018 250 #1,034 – –
2017 265 #984 – –
2016 261 #1,017 – –
2015 301 #914 – –
2014 301 #906 – –
2013 282 #909 – –
2012 336 #799 – –
2011 303 #864 – –
2010 355 #775 – –
2009 425 #690 – –
2008 491 #630 – –
2007 581 #538 – –
2006 685 #463 – –
2005 929 #341 – –
2004 977 #323 – –
2003 927 #336 – –
2002 1,060 #295 – –
2001 1,159 #273 – –
2000 1,338 #239 – –
1995 2,023 #158 – –
1990 3,826 #85 18 #3,446
1985 6,102 #51 15 #3,205
1980 6,283 #43 27 #2,048
1975 6,455 #41 22 #2,123
1970 5,329 #69 22 #1,934
1965 1,168 #250 5 #4,369
1960 684 #367 – –
1955 432 #426 – –
1950 102 #884 – –
1945 28 #1,580 – –
1940 13 #2,402 – –
1935 – – – –
1930 – – – –
1925 – – – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Tara

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Tara Lipinski Tara Lipinski American sports commentator (born 1982) Contemporary
  2. 2 Tara Sutaria Tara Sutaria Indian actress and singer (born 1996) b. 1995 · Contemporary
  3. 3 Tara Strong Tara Strong Canadian-American actress (born 1973) Contemporary
  4. 4 Tara Reid Tara Reid American actress (born 1975) Contemporary
  5. 5 Tara Fitzgerald Tara Fitzgerald English actress b. 1967 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Tara Sharma Tara Sharma English actress, model and television presenter (born 1977) Contemporary
  7. 7 Tara Lynne Barr Tara Lynne Barr American actress (born 1993) Contemporary
  8. 8 Tara Buckman American actress b. 1956 · Contemporary
  9. 9 Tara Conner Tara Conner American model and winner of Miss USA 2006 b. 1985 · Contemporary
  10. 10 Tara Whitten Tara Whitten Canadian cyclist b. 1980 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Tara, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Tara?

The median living Tara is about 44 years old. Half of all living Taras are between 37 and 51 years old.

How many people named Tara are alive today?

An estimated 170 thousand people named Tara are alive in the United States, based on 176,355 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Tara mean?

Borrowed from Irish Teamhrach, genitive of Teamhair, from Old Irish Temair (literally “high place”).

How popular is the name Tara in 2025?

Tara ranked #847 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 322 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Tara?

176,355 babies have been named Tara in the United States since 1939, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Tara most popular?

Tara peaked in 1972, when 7,268 newborns received the name.

Is Tara a boy or girl name?

Tara is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Tara rising or falling?

Tara has been roughly stable over the past decade.

Will Tara become more popular?

Tara is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 353 girls named Tara in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Tara?

Well-known people named Tara include Tara Lipinski (skater), Tara Sutaria (actor), Tara Strong (actor).

Names like Tara

Names that sound and feel close to Tara: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Tara with similar names → More names starting with T →