Tarita
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "descended, cherished".
Name Census estimates that about 317 living Americans carry the first name Tarita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tarita today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tarita births was 1963 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tarita. 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
317
~ 1 in 1,081,244 Americans
Peak year
1963
31 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1989 SSA rank
#14,337
Tracked since 1961
Popularity
Tarita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tarita from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 167 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Tarita remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tarita 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 Tarita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Taritas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Tarita, while New York, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tarita
The name Tarita has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that was the root of many modern Indian languages. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "tarita," which means "crossed" or "traversed." This name likely originated in ancient India, where Sanskrit was the dominant language of religious and scholarly texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tarita can be found in the Mahabharata, a famous Hindu epic poem dating back to around the 8th century BCE. In the text, Tarita is mentioned as the name of a river, which adds to the idea that the name is connected to the concept of crossing or traversing.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tarita. In the 6th century CE, Tarita was the name of a Buddhist scholar and commentator on the works of the philosopher Nagarjuna. This Tarita is believed to have lived and worked in the region of present-day Bihar, India.
Another prominent figure with the name Tarita was a 12th-century Hindu mathematician and astronomer from the Chalukya dynasty in southern India. This Tarita was known for his contributions to the field of astronomy and his work on the calculation of planetary positions.
In the 15th century, there was a Tarita who was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet from the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India. She is credited with writing several works of poetry and commentary on ancient Hindu texts.
Moving forward in time, Tarita was also the name of a 19th-century Indian freedom fighter from the state of Maharashtra. She was involved in the struggle against British colonial rule and played a role in the Indian independence movement.
Additionally, in the 20th century, there was a Tarita who was a well-known Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was instrumental in preserving and promoting the traditional dance forms of India and received numerous accolades for her contributions to the arts.
People
Tarita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tarita 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
Tarita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tarita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tarita 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 1,081,244 US residents.
Is Tarita a common name?
We classify Tarita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 364 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tarita most popular?
The single biggest year for Tarita was 1963, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tarita is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tarita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tarita 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.