Tara (given name)

For other uses, see Tara (disambiguation).

Tara

Gender	Female
Origin
Word/name	Gaelic, Sanskrit
Meaning	Queen Star Goddess of the sea "Diamond"
Other names
Related names	Tarja, Tajra

Tara is a given name with multiple meanings in different cultures.

It is also sometimes a nickname for Tamara, as an alternative to Tammy. In the Royal Engineers it is a common for a Sergeant Major to be referred to as Tara, after the wrestler who was a Sergeant Major and served in Burma during World War II, although the practice is now dying out.

The name is somewhat dated in the United States, being most popular during the 1970s (like Tamara), but is still very popular in Ireland and Australia. Its American popularity was probably due to Tara being the name of the O'Hara's plantation in the 1939 movie Gone with the Wind. It was the name of Tara King, a character in the 1960s British television The Avengers. It was also the name of Tara Martin, a popular character on the American soap opera All My Children in the early 1970s. These characters probably contributed to the name's rise in popularity during the 1970s. In Ireland, from 2000–2005 it ranked between the 30th and 40th most popular girl's name.

Since 1968 the name Tara is currently accepted as being exclusively a female name in Western societies, although there have been men who carried the name (such as Tara Browne). It is also often considered a female name in the east, due to its connection to several goddesses. For instance, Tara is a female Buddha in Buddhism and a goddess in Hinduism. Additionally, "Tara" is also a common male or female name meaning "star".

Meanings in different languages

• Irish Gaelic: refers to the Hill of Tara, or Teamhair na Rí, the seat of the kings of Ireland from neolithic times (c. 5000 BC) to the 6th century or later. With this reference, Tara is taken to mean "Queen"
• Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, Persian, Punjabi, Kurdish, Bengali, Telugu, Sinhala: "Star"

Alternative spellings

Variant forms include Taira, Tagarah, Taragh, Terra, Tera, Thara, and Tariogh.

People named Tara

Deities

• Tara (Buddhism), is a tantric meditation deity in Tibetan Buddhism, actually the generic name for a set of similar bodhisattvas
• Tara (Devi), a Hindu goddess and consort of Shiva

Women

• Lisa Marie Varon (born 1971), professional wrestler who uses the ring name Tara
• Tara (actress) (1944-2007), Indian actress in Assamese, Manipuri, Punjabi and Hindi language films
• Tara (Kannada actress) (born 1967), Indian actress in Kannada language films
• Tara Allain (born 1985), beauty pageant participant
• Tara Lynne Barr (born 1993), American actress
• Tara Betts, American author
• Tara Blaise (born 1975), Irish pop, folk, rock singer
• Tara Bollinger (born 1979), American model and beauty queen
• Tara Bouman (born 1970), Hollander basset horn, clarinet and bass clarinet player
• Tara Brabazon (born 1969), Canadian professor of communication
• Tara Brach (born 1953), American psychologist and expert on Buddhist meditation
• Tara Brown (born 1968), Australian television presenter
• Tara Buck (born 1975), American actress
• Tara Buckman (born 1956), American television and film actress
• Tara Calico (born 1969), American woman who disappeared
• Tara Campbell (born 1983), Canadian water polo player
• Tara Camper (born 1991), American incredible
• Tara Chatterjea (born 1937), Indian author and philosopher
• Tara Conner (born 1985), Miss USA 2006
• Tara Cox (born 1971), New Zealand association football player
• Tara Cross-Battle (born 1968), American volleyball player
• Tara Croxford (born 1968), Canadian field hockey player
• Tara D'Souza, Indian film actress/model
• Tara Dakides (born 1975), American snowboarder
• Tara Deshpande (born 1975), Indian actress, writer, model, and MTV VJ
• Tara Dettman, Canadian music artist and songwriter
• Tara Devi (singer) (1945-2006), Nepali singer
• Tara Donovan (born 1969), American artist
• Tara Fela-Durotoye (born 1977), Nigerian makeup artist and lawyer
• Tara Feser (born 1980), Canadian wheelchair basketball player
• Tara FitzGerald (born 1967), English actress
• Tara Lynn Foxx (born 1990), American hardcore pornstar
• Tara George (born 1973), Canadian curler
• Tara Lynn Grant (1972-2007), American woman murdered by her husband
• Tara Gray (born 1979), American beauty queen
• Tara Grinstead (born 1974), American woman who is missing
• Tara K. Harper (born 1961), American author
• Tara Lyn Hart (born 1978) Canadian singer/songwriter
• Tara Hitchcock (born 1971), American journalist and news anchor
• Tara Dawn Holland (born 1972), American beauty pageant contestant, Miss America 1997
• Tara Hoyos-Martínez (born 1990), English beauty pageant titleholder
• Tara Hunt (born 1973), Canadian author, speaker and startup founder
• Tara Hurley (born 1976), American director
• Tara Iyer (born 1988), Indian tennis player
• Tara Jaff, Iraqi Kurdish musician
• Tara Jarmon, Canadian fashion designer based in Paris
• Tara Karsian (born 1965), American stage and film actress
• Tara Kemp (born 1964), American pop and R&B singer
• Tara Killian (born 1977), American film and television actress
• Tara Kirk (born 1982), American swimmer
• Tara LaRosa (born 1978), American mixed martial artist
• Tara Lemmey, American entrepreneur, technology expert, and innovation strategist
• Tara Leniston (born 1983), Irish actress
• Tara Lipinski (born 1982), American figure skater
• Tara Llanes (born 1976), American bicycle motocross and mountain bike racer
• Tara Mack (born 1983), American politician
• Tara MacLean (born 1973), Canadian singer and songwriter
• Tara McDonald, English songwriter and vocalist
• Tara McKelvey, American journalist
• Tara McLeod, Canadian guitarist
• Tara McPherson (born 1976), American artist
• Tara Moore (born 1992), English tennis player
• Tara Moran (born 1971), English actress
• Tara Morice (born 1964), Australian actress, singer, and dancer
• Tara Moss (born 1973), Canadian-Australian author
• Tara Mounsey (born 1978), American hockey player
• Tara Nelson, Canadian television journalist and news anchor
• Tara Newley (born 1963), American English singer and actor
• Tara Nott (born 1972), American weightlifter
• Tara Jane O'Neil (born 1972) (sometimes ONeil or TJO), American instrumentalist, songwriter, audio engineer, and artist
• Tara Lynne O'Neill, Irish film, theatre and television actress
• Tara O'Toole, American Under Secretary in the Department of Homeland Security
• Tara Oram (born 1984), Canadian Country singer
• Tara Osseck (born 1986), beauty pageant participant
• Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (born 1971), English socialite also known as T P-T
• Tara Parker-Pope, American author and columnist
• Tara Leigh Patrick (born 1972), American model and entertainer, aka Carmen Electra
• Tara Platt (born 1980), American film and television actress
• Tara Priya (born 1989), American singer-songwriter and vocalist
• Tara Proctor (born 1971), English footballer
• Tara Reid (born 1975), American actress
• Tara Rushton (born 1984), Australian model and actress
• Tara Ruttledge (born 1991), Irish camogie player
• Tara Ruttley, American scientist
• Tara Sad, American politician
• Tara Sands, American voice actress, television host and actress
• Tara Savelo, American makeup artist for Lady Gaga
• Tara Seibel (born 1973), American cartoonist, graphic designer and illustrator
• Tara Sharma (born 1977), Indian actress
• Tara Simmons (born 1984), Australian musician
• Tara Singh (author), Indian author
• Tara Slone (born 1973), Canadian rock vocalist
• Tara Smith (hair stylist) (born 1973), hair stylist
• Tara Smith (philosopher) (born 1961), American professor of philosophy
• Tara Bray Smith, American author
• Tara Ellyn Smith (born 1975) aka Taylor Hayes (entertainer), American pornographic actress
• Tara Snyder (born 1977), American tennis player
• Tara Spencer-Nairn (born 1978), Canadian actress
• Tara Springett (born 1960), German-born English resident Buddhist therapist, teacher and author
• Tara Stevens (born 1972), British journalist of Welsh extraction, based in Barcelona
• Tara Stiles (born 1981), American model turned yoga instructor
• Tara Stout (born 1970), English comedian
• Tara Strohmeier, American actress
• Tara Strong, Canadian-American actress
• Tara Subkoff (born 1972), American actress and fashion designer
• Tara Summers (born 1979), English actress
• Tara Sutton, Canadian journalist and filmmaker
• Tara Teng (born 1989), Canadian abolitionist
• Tara Thompson (born 1988), American actress
• Tara Turnure, American beauty queen
• Tara VanDerveer (born 1953), American basketball coach
• Tara Vanflower, American vocalist
• Tara Singh Varma (born 1948), Dutch politician
• Tara Wall, American columnist and editor
• Tara Watchorn (born 1990), Canadian ice hockey player
• Tara Whitten (born 1980), Canadian track racing cyclist
• Tara Wilson (actress) (born 1982), Canadian actress
• Tara Wilson (pageant titleholder), Miss West Virginia USA
• Tara Lynn Wilson (born 1982), Canadian actress
• Tara June Winch (born 1983), Australian writer

Men

• Tara Browne (1945-1966), London socialite
• Tara Chand (Balochistan), Pakistani politician
• Tara Chandra Chaudhari, Nepalese politician
• Tara Singh Hayer (1936-1998), Sikh Canadian newspaper publisher
• Tara Singh Malhotra (1885-1967), Sikh political and religious leader
• Derek Moore-Brabazon, 2nd Baron Brabazon of Tara (1910-1974), British politician
• Ivon Moore-Brabazon, 3rd Baron Brabazon of Tara (born 1946), British politician
• John Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara (1884-1964), English aviator and politician
• John Preston, 1st Baron Tara (1764-1821), Irish politician
• Thomas Preston, 1st Viscount Tara (1585–1655), Irish soldier
• Tara Singh Ramgarhia, 18th century Sikh leader
• Tara Römer (1974-1999), French actor

Fictional characters

• Tara, a sword and sorcery heroine in DC Comics' Warlord
• Tara (comics), an android in Marvel Comics' New Invaders
• Tara of Helium, a princess in the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs
• Tara in the film Shrooms
• Tara (Kim Possible) in the TV series Kim Possible
• Tara Duncan, heroine of a series of French novels by Sophie Audouin-Mamikonian
• Tara Fremont, also called "Tara, the Jungle Girl" and "Too Tall Tara", a superhero in AC Comics
• Tara King in TV series The Avengers
• Tara Knowles in TV series Sons of Anarchy
• Tara*Starr Lane in the novels P.S. Longer Letter Later and Snail Mail No More by Ann M. Martin and Paula Danziger
• Tara Maclay in TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Tara Mandal, character on the soap opera Coronation Street
• Tara Mehta, an incarnate deity in Virgin Comics' Devi comic book
• Tara Price, character on the crime drama CSI: Miami
• Tara Reynolds, character from the soap opera Emmerdale
• Tara Thornton in the TV series True Blood
• Tara Wilson (Boston Legal) in TV series The Practice and its spinoff Boston Legal
• Tara in the TV series, Dance Academy"
• Tara from Dragon Quest Monsters 2 for the Game Boy Color.
• Tara (Madison Pettis) from Mostly Ghostly series and Movie on Disney Channel