Explore the Family Name Tara

The meaning of Tara

1. Polish: nickname from the dialect word tarać się ‘to roll or welter’. 2. Indian (Punjab): Sikh name, probably from Punjabi tārā ‘star’ (Sanskrit tāraka). It is based on the name of a Jat tribe. Some characteristic forenames: Indian Kamla, Nirmala, Sandeep. Polish Jozef.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Tara in the United States?

The surname Tara has seen a slight decline in popularity based on the Decennial U.S. Census data. In 2000, it was ranked as the 39,946th most popular surname, and by 2010, it slid to the 40,082nd position, representing a drop of 0.34%. However, the number of individuals with this last name increased from 517 in 2000 to 547 in 2010, marking a 5.8% growth. The proportion per 100,000 people remained steady at 0.19 over this decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#39,946	#40,082	-0.34%
Count	517	547	5.8%
Proportion per 100k	0.19	0.19	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Tara

As for its ethnic identity distribution, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows some shifts between 2000 and 2010. The percentage of people with the Tara surname identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander increased significantly by 43.13%, rising from 13.54% to 19.38%. There was also a noticeable increase in those identifying as Hispanic, going from 10.64% to 14.44%, a change of 35.71%. Conversely, the portion of Tara's identifying as White dropped by 9.44%, from 64.60% to 58.50%. Notably, the category of 'Two or more races' experienced a fall to 0% from 6.38%, while those identifying as Black appeared in 2010 at 4.39%. American Indian and Alaskan Native representation remained at 0% for both years.

	2000	2010	Change
White	64.6%	58.5%	-9.44%
Asian/Pacific Islander	13.54%	19.38%	43.13%
Hispanic	10.64%	14.44%	35.71%
Black	0%	4.39%	0%
Two or More Races	6.38%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%