Tarren
A Celtic name meaning thunder or potentially a variation of Terrence.
Name Census estimates that about 646 living Americans carry the first name Tarren. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Tarren today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tarren births was 1996 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tarren. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tarren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
646
~ 1 in 530,579 Americans
Peak year
1996
42 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,856
Tracked since 1970
Census
Tarren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 671 people with the first name Tarren, which placed it at #16,695 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
#16,695
National first-name rank
People counted
671
671 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tarren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarren is White at 59.3%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Tarren 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 Tarren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.3% · 398
- Black or African American22.4% · 150
- Two or more races6.9% · 46
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Tarren
Tarren is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 666 total registrations, 436 (65.5%) were male and 230 (34.5%) were female.
Tarren as a male name
- Ranked #13,856 in 2018
- 5 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1996 (27 births)
Tarren as a female name
- Ranked #14,375 in 2005
- 7 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1985 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tarren on both sides of the split. Of the 663 people counted with this name, 385 were male (58.1%) and 278 were female (41.9%).
Popularity
Tarren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tarren from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 273 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
Tarren 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 Tarren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tarrens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tarren
The given name Tarren is believed to have its origins in the ancient Celtic language, which was spoken in various regions of Western Europe, including modern-day Britain, Ireland, and parts of France. The name likely emerged during the Iron Age period, which spanned from approximately the 8th century BC to the 1st century AD.
Tarren is thought to be derived from the Celtic root word "tar," which means "to cross over" or "to traverse." This suggests that the name may have been associated with travelers, explorers, or those who journeyed across lands or bodies of water. It could also be related to the concept of transition or transformation.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some scholars believe that variations of the name, such as "Taran" or "Taranis," were used by Celtic tribes to refer to deities associated with thunder, storms, or the sky. However, these connections remain speculative.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tarren dates back to the 11th century, when a Welsh nobleman named Tarren ap Ithel was mentioned in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tarren. One example is Tarren Barrow (1899-1982), a British rugby union player who represented England in the 1920s and played for the Leicester Tigers club. Another is Tarren Bragdon (born 1976), an American politician and former member of the Maine House of Representatives.
In the realm of literature, Tarren Mirriss (1923-2000) was an Australian poet and author known for his works exploring themes of nature, identity, and the Australian landscape. Tarren Shearston (born 1982) is a contemporary Australian artist and sculptor whose works have been exhibited internationally.
Finally, Tarren Handley (born 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who has played in various minor leagues and competed for Canada's national team in international tournaments.
These examples showcase the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals named Tarren throughout history, spanning various fields such as sports, politics, literature, art, and athletics.
People
Tarren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tarren 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
Tarren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tarren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 646 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tarren 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 530,579 US residents.
Is Tarren a common name?
We classify Tarren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 666 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tarren most popular?
The single biggest year for Tarren was 1996, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tarren is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tarren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 671 people with the name Tarren, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,695 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 Tarren 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 Tarren?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tarren on both sides of the split. Of the 663 people counted with this name, 385 were male (58.1%) and 278 were female (41.9%). 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 Tarren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tarren is White at 59.3%. The next largest groups are Black (22.4%) and Two or More Races (6.9%). 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 Tarren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tarren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.3% (398 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 Tarren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tarren a male name?
Yes, 65.5% of people registered as Tarren in the SSA data are male. 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 Tarren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tarren 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 Tarren 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 the name Tarren?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.