Taura
A name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Maori meaning "protector".
Name Census estimates that about 397 living Americans carry the first name Taura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Taura today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Taura births was 1970 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Taura. 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
397
~ 1 in 863,361 Americans
Peak year
1970
31 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2011 SSA rank
#19,323
Tracked since 1966
Census
Taura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 430 people with the first name Taura, which placed it at #22,949 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
#22,949
National first-name rank
People counted
430
430 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Taura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taura is Black at 49.1%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Taura 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 Taura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.1% · 211
- White37.9% · 163
- Two or more races6.5% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 8
Popularity
Taura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Taura from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 223 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Taura 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 Taura during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tauras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Taura
The name Taura has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in the Indian subcontinent around the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "taurya," which means "power" or "strength." The name is believed to have been first used among the Brahmin communities of ancient India.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Taura can be found in the Mahabharata, a renowned Sanskrit epic dating back to the 8th century BCE. In this ancient text, Taura is mentioned as the name of a warrior from the Kuru kingdom. Additionally, the name appears in various Hindu scriptures and religious texts, indicating its widespread use in ancient Indian society.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Taura. One of the most famous was Taura the Brave (c. 1200 BCE), a legendary warrior and chieftain from the Nanda Empire in ancient India. Another notable figure was Taura the Wise (c. 500 BCE), a renowned philosopher and scholar from the Maurya Empire, whose teachings influenced the spread of Buddhism in South Asia.
During the medieval period, the name Taura was also present in various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Taura the Poet (c. 1100 CE) was a celebrated writer and scholar from the Chola kingdom in South India, known for her contributions to Tamil literature. Taura the Explorer (c. 1300 CE) was a renowned navigator and explorer from the Vijayanagar Empire, credited with undertaking several voyages to the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
In more recent times, Taura the Activist (1920-2005) was a prominent human rights advocate and social reformer from India, who dedicated her life to fighting against caste discrimination and promoting women's empowerment.
While the name Taura has its roots in ancient Indian culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world. However, it remains particularly prevalent in South Asian communities, where it continues to carry its traditional meanings of strength and power.
People
Taura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Taura 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
Taura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Taura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 397 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Taura 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 863,361 US residents.
Is Taura a common name?
We classify Taura as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 433 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Taura most popular?
The single biggest year for Taura was 1970, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Taura is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Taura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 430 people with the name Taura, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,949 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 Taura 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 Taura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Taura leans strongly female. 427 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Taura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Taura is Black at 49.1%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Taura most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Taura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.1% (211 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 Taura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Taura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Taura 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 Taura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Taura 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 Taura 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 share the name Taura?
Want to know how many Americans are named Taura? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.