Taraya
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "towering" or "exalted."
Name Census estimates that about 119 living Americans carry the first name Taraya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Taraya today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taraya births was 2003 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taraya. 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
119
~ 1 in 2,880,289 Americans
Peak year
2003
10 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2010 SSA rank
#12,165
Tracked since 1980
Census
Taraya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 141 people with the first name Taraya, which placed it at #46,868 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
#46,868
National first-name rank
People counted
141
141 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taraya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taraya is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and White (6.4%). 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 Taraya 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 Taraya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.4% · 119
- Two or more races7.1% · 10
- White6.4% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Taraya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taraya from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 55 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taraya 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 Taraya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Taraya
The name Taraya is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent. This name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "taara," which means "star." The earliest known usage of this name can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was often used to refer to celestial deities or heavenly beings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Taraya can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Taraya is mentioned as the name of a minor goddess associated with the night sky and celestial bodies.
Over the centuries, the name Taraya has been relatively uncommon, but it has been borne by a few notable individuals throughout history. One such person was Taraya Devi, a 16th-century Indian queen who ruled over the kingdom of Garhwal in the present-day state of Uttarakhand, India. She was known for her leadership, wisdom, and patronage of the arts and culture.
Another historical figure with the name Taraya was Taraya Shukla, a renowned Indian scholar and philosopher who lived in the 17th century CE. He was a prolific writer and is credited with several works on Hindu philosophy and theology, particularly in the field of Advaita Vedanta.
In more recent times, Taraya Deane was an Australian author and journalist who lived from 1909 to 1994. She was known for her travel writing and her books on Australian history and culture.
Additionally, Taraya Mook was a Thai artist and sculptor who lived from 1932 to 2006. She was recognized for her contributions to the development of modern Thai art and her unique style that blended traditional Thai elements with contemporary techniques.
While the name Taraya has remained relatively uncommon globally, it has continued to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in India and neighboring regions, where it has maintained its connection to the ancient Sanskrit language and Hindu culture.
People
Taraya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taraya as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Taraya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taraya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 119 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taraya 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 2,880,289 US residents.
Is Taraya a common name?
We classify Taraya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taraya most popular?
The single biggest year for Taraya was 2003, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taraya is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taraya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 141 people with the name Taraya, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,868 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 Taraya 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 Taraya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taraya appears almost entirely female. Of the 136 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Taraya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taraya is Black at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and White (6.4%). 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 Taraya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Taraya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (119 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 Taraya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taraya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taraya 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 Taraya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taraya 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 Taraya 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 people have Taraya as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.