Girls' name · peaked in 1972
Tara name popularity since 1925
176,355 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Tara. Half of them were born in 1980 or earlier, so the typical Tara is about 46 years old in 2026. Tara peaked in 1972 as the #38 name for girls, and it ranked #847 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 176,355
- Named Tara, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #847
- for girls in 2025 (322 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 175,812 girls · 543 boys
- Most popular in
- New Jersey
- 1.75× its national share
Peak year is the year Tara made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Tara births per year, 1925–2025
1972 was the biggest year for Tara both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1967 and 1972, Tara became 6.1× more common, from 1 in 1,280 baby girls to 1 in 210.
- Steepest fall: Between 2005 and 2010, its share of baby girls fell by 60%, from 1 in 1,990 to 1 in 5,010.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Tara's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Tara.
Decade by decade
Babies named Tara in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 7 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 392 | 0 | #1,580 |
| 1950s | 3,175 | 0 | #426 |
| 1960s | 14,543 | 40 | #250 |
| 1970s | 65,072 | 252 | #41 |
| 1980s | 56,338 | 200 | #51 |
| 1990s | 23,370 | 51 | #158 |
| 2000s | 8,572 | 0 | #341 |
| 2010s | 2,911 | 0 | #914 |
| 2020–25 | 1,432 | 0 | #847 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
46.0% of babies named Tara from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen X years (1965–1980). The full split by generation:
Where Tara is most popular
The index compares Tara's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Tara.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 1.75× | 8,458 |
| Wyoming | 1.57× | 374 |
| Alaska | 1.53× | 399 |
| Montana | 1.47× | 755 |
| Delaware | 1.44× | 525 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Tara and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Tara (this page) | 175,812 | 1972 |
| Tarah | 4,737 | 1984 |
| Tarra | 2,295 | 1972 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Tara's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Tara.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Tara (1972).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data