Thara
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "star" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Thara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Thara today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thara births was 2024 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thara. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Thara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
2024
26 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,118
Tracked since 1972
Census
Thara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 442 people with the first name Thara, which placed it at #22,485 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
#22,485
National first-name rank
People counted
442
442 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
51.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thara is Asian/Pacific Islander at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and White (17.4%). 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 Thara 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 Thara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander51.4% · 227
- Black or African American20.6% · 91
- White17.4% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 26
- Two or more races4.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Thara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thara from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 84 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
Thara 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 Thara 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 Thara
The given name Thara has its roots in the Sanskrit language, originating from the Indian subcontinent. Its earliest usage can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was often used as a name for deities or revered figures. The name Thara is derived from the Sanskrit word "tara," which means "star" or "celestial being."
In ancient Hindu mythology, Tara is the name of a prominent goddess who is revered as the embodiment of universal compassion and the protector of navigation and travelers. She is also associated with the concept of liberation and is often depicted as a beautiful woman adorned with jewels, holding a lotus flower.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thara can be found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic composed between the 8th and 9th centuries BCE. In this text, Thara is mentioned as the name of a prince who played a significant role in the great war between the Pandavas and Kauravas.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Thara. One of the most famous was Thara Bhai (1548–1618), a revered Sikh warrior and poet who was a close companion of Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh Guru. His writings and compositions are an integral part of the Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib.
Another prominent figure was Thara Singh Sandhanwalia (1822–1887), a renowned Sikh military leader and ruler of the princely state of Kapurthala in Punjab, India. He played a significant role in the Anglo-Sikh Wars and was known for his bravery and strategic military prowess.
In the field of literature, Thara Saheb (1891–1971) was a renowned Urdu poet and writer from India. Her poetic works, characterized by their lyrical beauty and profound themes, earned her widespread acclaim and recognition.
In more recent times, Thara Memory (born 1938) is a celebrated Thai artist and painter known for her vibrant and expressive works that capture the essence of Thai culture and traditions.
Lastly, Thara Naidu (1934–2018) was a prominent South African activist and politician who played a crucial role in the anti-apartheid movement. She served as a member of the African National Congress and dedicated her life to the pursuit of equality and justice.
People
Thara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thara 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
Thara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thara 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Thara a common name?
We classify Thara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 280 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thara most popular?
The single biggest year for Thara was 2024, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thara is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 442 people with the name Thara, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,485 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 Thara 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 Thara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thara leans strongly female. 410 people counted with this name were female (93.0%), compared with 31 male bearers (7.0%). 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 Thara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thara is Asian/Pacific Islander at 51.4%. The next largest groups are Black (20.6%) and White (17.4%). 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 Thara most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Thara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (227 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 Thara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thara 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 Thara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thara 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 Thara 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 Thara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.