Talulah
An English feminine name of uncertain meaning, likely derived from a Native American word.
Name Census estimates that about 522 living Americans carry the first name Talulah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Talulah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talulah births was 2024 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talulah. 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
522
~ 1 in 656,618 Americans
Peak year
2024
57 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,913
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Talulah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talulah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 222 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Talulah 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 Talulah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Talulahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, North Carolina, New York recorded the most babies named Talulah, while New York, North Carolina, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Talulah
The name Talulah is a Native American name of Muscogee origin, deriving from the Choctaw language spoken by the Choctaw people of the Southeastern United States. It is believed to have originated sometime in the early 18th century or earlier.
Talulah is a combination of two Choctaw words, "talu" meaning "town" and "lah" meaning "rock" or "brook". Therefore, the name Talulah can be interpreted as meaning "town of the brook" or "town on the rock". It may have been a descriptive name for a specific Choctaw settlement or village located near a brook or rocky terrain.
There are no known significant historical references or mentions of the name Talulah in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it is likely that the name was used by the Choctaw people for centuries before being more widely adopted by European settlers and other cultures.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Talulah was Talulah Bankhead, an American actress born in 1902 and died in 1968. She was known for her husky voice and sultry persona on stage and in films during the 1920s and 1930s.
Another notable Talulah was Talulah Riley, a British actress born in 1985. She is known for her roles in films such as Pride & Prejudice, St Trinian's, and Inception.
Talulah Gosh was the name of an influential English indie pop band formed in 1986, named after an imaginary person. The band's quirky name and sound played a role in the emerging C86 scene of the late 1980s.
In the world of literature, Talulah Granger was a character in the novel "The Big Sleep" by Raymond Chandler, published in 1939. She was portrayed as a cynical and manipulative young woman in the classic noir fiction novel.
Talulah Bankhead, the actress mentioned earlier, was also known for her wit and sharp tongue. One famous quote attributed to her is, "I'm as pure as the driven slush."
People
Talulah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talulah 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
Talulah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talulah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 522 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talulah 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 656,618 US residents.
Is Talulah a common name?
We classify Talulah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talulah most popular?
The single biggest year for Talulah was 2024, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talulah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Talulah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Talulah 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.
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.