Tarrah
A variant spelling of the Arabic name Tara meaning "star".
Name Census estimates that about 1,013 living Americans carry the first name Tarrah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tarrah today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tarrah births was 1977 (128 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tarrah. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 338,356 Americans
Peak year
1977
128 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2016 SSA rank
#18,606
Tracked since 1971
Census
Tarrah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 978 people with the first name Tarrah, which placed it at #12,647 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
#12,647
National first-name rank
People counted
978
978 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tarrah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarrah is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Tarrah 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 Tarrah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.4% · 737
- Black or African American13.2% · 129
- Two or more races4.9% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 8
Popularity
Tarrah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tarrah from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 425 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tarrah 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 Tarrah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tarrahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Tarrah, while Missouri, Kentucky, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tarrah
The name Tarrah is believed to have originated from the Arabic language, derived from the word "tarah," which means "to rejoice" or "to be happy." It is a feminine name that has been in use since ancient times in the Middle Eastern region.
In the early Islamic era, the name Tarrah was occasionally mentioned in historical records and literary works, though its popularity was relatively limited compared to other Arabic names. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in a 9th-century manuscript that documents the life of a renowned Islamic scholar named Tarrah ibn al-Qasim.
As the Arabic culture and language spread across various regions, the name Tarrah also gained recognition in other parts of the world. During the medieval period, it was occasionally used in parts of Europe and Asia, particularly in areas that had significant cultural or trade connections with the Middle East.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Tarrah was a Persian poet who lived in the 11th century. Known as Tarrah al-Isfahani, she was renowned for her eloquent verses and is considered one of the earliest female poets in the Persian literary tradition.
In the 13th century, a prominent Muslim scholar and philosopher named Tarrah ibn Yahya al-Andalusi made significant contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and Islamic jurisprudence. He was born in Andalusia, which was then under Moorish rule, and his works were widely studied throughout the Islamic world.
During the Ottoman Empire, the name Tarrah gained some popularity among the ruling classes. One notable figure was Tarrah Khanum, a 16th-century Ottoman princess and the daughter of Sultan Selim II. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for various charitable endeavors.
In more recent history, Tarrah fitt Tyers was an English writer and translator who lived in the 18th century. She is best known for her translations of French literary works, including the novels of Madame de Genlis.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Tarrah throughout history, showcasing its diverse cultural and geographical reach.
People
Tarrah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tarrah 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
Tarrah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tarrah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,013 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tarrah 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 338,356 US residents.
Is Tarrah a common name?
We classify Tarrah as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,074 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tarrah most popular?
The single biggest year for Tarrah was 1977, when 128 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tarrah is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tarrah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 978 people with the name Tarrah, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,647 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 Tarrah 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 Tarrah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tarrah appears almost entirely female. Of the 983 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 Tarrah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarrah is White at 75.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Tarrah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tarrah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.4% (737 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 Tarrah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tarrah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tarrah 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 Tarrah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tarrah 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 Tarrah 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 Tarrah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.