Latarsha
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially a combination of Latar and Sha.
Name Census estimates that about 1,808 living Americans carry the first name Latarsha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Latarsha today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Latarsha births was 1976 (171 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Latarsha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
1.8K
~ 1 in 189,577 Americans
Peak year
1976
171 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1995 SSA rank
#10,101
Tracked since 1964
Census
Latarsha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,420 people with the first name Latarsha, which placed it at #9,689 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,689
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,420 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Latarsha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latarsha is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and Hispanic (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Latarsha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Latarsha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American96.8% · 1,375
- Two or more races1.8% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 8
- White0.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Latarsha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Latarsha from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,257 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Latarsha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Latarsha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Latarshas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Maryland recorded the most babies named Latarsha, while Arkansas, Illinois, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Latarsha
The name Latarsha appears to be a more modern variation of the historically feminine name Latasha, which has origins rooted in various cultures and languages. It is believed to have emerged as a blend of the French name Natacha, itself derived from the Russian Natasha, and the Arabic name Leila or Laila.
The earliest known records of the name Latasha can be traced back to the late 19th century in parts of the southern United States, particularly among African American communities. It is speculated that the name may have been influenced by the blending of French, Russian, and Arabic naming traditions brought together through the diverse cultural exchanges of the time.
While the name Latarsha does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its predecessor, Latasha, has been recorded in historical documents from the early 20th century onwards. One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name was Latasha Byears, an African American writer and activist born in 1920 in Mississippi, who was a prominent figure in the civil rights movement.
Another influential figure with the name Latasha was Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old African American girl whose tragic shooting death in 1991 sparked outrage and was a contributing factor to the Los Angeles riots of 1992. Her story brought national attention to issues of racial injustice and police brutality.
Other historically significant individuals with the name Latasha include Latasha Diggs, a pioneering journalist and publisher born in 1956, who founded the influential Black Voices magazine; and Latasha Robinson, a renowned dancer and choreographer born in 1970, who revolutionized contemporary dance with her unique style and influence.
While the name Latarsha itself may be a more recent iteration, it carries the cultural legacy and historical weight of its predecessor, reflecting the rich tapestry of diverse influences that have shaped naming traditions over time.
People
Latarsha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Latarsha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Latarsha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Latarsha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,808 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Latarsha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 189,577 US residents.
Is Latarsha a common name?
We classify Latarsha as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,975 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Latarsha most popular?
The single biggest year for Latarsha was 1976, when 171 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Latarsha is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Latarsha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,420 people with the name Latarsha, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,689 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Latarsha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Latarsha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Latarsha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,416 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Latarsha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latarsha is Black at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and Hispanic (0.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Latarsha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Latarsha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (1,375 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Latarsha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Latarsha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Latarsha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Latarsha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Latarsha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Latarsha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Latarsha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.