Tahara
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "pure" or "clean".
Name Census estimates that about 284 living Americans carry the first name Tahara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tahara today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tahara births was 1990 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tahara. 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
284
~ 1 in 1,206,881 Americans
Peak year
1990
17 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,856
Tracked since 1971
Census
Tahara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 316 people with the first name Tahara, which placed it at #28,429 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
#28,429
National first-name rank
People counted
316
316 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tahara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tahara is Black at 70.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Tahara 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 Tahara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.6% · 223
- White9.2% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.9% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 18
- Two or more races5.7% · 18
Popularity
Tahara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tahara 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 93 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
Tahara 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 Tahara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tahara
The name Tahara has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "taharah," which means purity or cleanliness. The name is believed to have been in use since the early centuries of Islam, and it carries religious and spiritual connotations.
In Islamic tradition, the concept of taharah is essential, as it refers to the state of physical and spiritual purity required for various religious practices, such as prayer and pilgrimage. The name Tahara may have been given to children as a reminder of the importance of purity and the pursuit of spiritual cleanliness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tahara can be found in historical records from the 7th century CE. During this time, a woman named Tahara bint Zayd was known for her piety and devotion to Islam. She was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and is remembered for her contributions to the early Muslim community.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tahara. One such person was Tahara al-Baghdadiyya, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century CE. She was celebrated for her knowledge of Arabic literature and her contributions to the intellectual and cultural life of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Another prominent figure with the name Tahara was Tahara bint Ahmad al-Sulami, a Sufi mystic and writer from the 10th century CE. She wrote extensively on spiritual matters and was highly regarded for her wisdom and insights into the mystical aspects of Islam.
In the 12th century CE, Tahara bint Ibrahim al-Nabulusi was a respected scholar and jurist from the city of Nablus in present-day Palestine. She was known for her expertise in Islamic jurisprudence and her efforts to promote education and learning among women.
More recently, in the 19th century, Tahara al-Muzaffar was a prominent reformer and advocate for women's rights in Iran. She fought against the oppressive practices of the time and worked tirelessly to improve the status of women in Iranian society.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Tahara throughout history, each leaving their mark on various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Tahara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tahara 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
Tahara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tahara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 284 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tahara 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 1,206,881 US residents.
Is Tahara a common name?
We classify Tahara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tahara most popular?
The single biggest year for Tahara was 1990, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tahara is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tahara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 316 people with the name Tahara, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,429 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 Tahara 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 Tahara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tahara leans strongly female. 304 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 12 male bearers (3.8%). 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 Tahara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tahara is Black at 70.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Tahara most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tahara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (223 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 Tahara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tahara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tahara 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 Tahara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tahara 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 Tahara 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 are named Tahara?
Find out how many people share the name Tahara on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.