Tara
Meaning
star (shares spelling with the Irish/English name Tara; a favorite dual-culture pick)
Famously borne by figure skater Tara Lipinski.
The story
Tara holds two major name histories that sound alike but do not share a root. In Irish and English use, Tara comes from Teamhair and the Hill of Tara, the sacred ceremonial landscape associated with Ireland's high kings; the place name may mean elevated place. In Sanskrit, Tārā means star and names important divine figures in Hindu and Buddhist traditions. Both routes are real, and a person's spelling alone does not reveal which one a family intended. American use begins to move in the 1970s, climbs through the 1980s and 1990s, reaches its highest point in the 2000s, and then eases. The name's appeal may lie partly in that rare combination: four accessible letters carrying either an Irish place of assembly and kingship or a South Asian star, with neither story needing to borrow from the other.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Tara peaked in the 1970s and the 1980s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
113 people · the #37,868 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 23
Among people named Tara living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Tara
Most people given the name Tara in the United States were born between 1970 and 1989. The Tara you meet today is most often in her 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Tara deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Tara truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Tara fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Tara travels
Irish American · named for the Hill of Tara, seat of Ireland's ancient High Kings; a beloved heritage place-name
Thai · star (Pali-Sanskrit root shared with the Western name Tara)
Keep exploring
Irish American baby names · Thai baby names · Indian American baby names · Short names
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