Given name & surname
Tahir
“one who is pure; chaste”
Tahir is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “one who is pure; chaste.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Ottoman Turkish طاهر (Tâhir), from Arabic طَاهِر (“pure, virtuous”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1972. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tahir through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,976
- 1,976 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 88 babies
- 2025
- 53
- #2,535 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +51%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 53 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,535 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 50.8% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. In 2025, Pennsylvania had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,680 as a first name in 2020; 3,035 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Tahir’s family of names
Tahir has a related form in Taher. Tahir has a related form in Tahear. Tahir has a related form in Taheare.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Around the world
Tahir has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
2 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Tahervariant
- Tahuvariant
- Tahyrevariant
- Tahyrvariant
- Tahearevariant
- Tahearvariant
- Taheirevariant
- Taheirvariant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Tahir
- Tagir KhaybulaevRussian judokaborn 1984
- Tahir SalahovSoviet, Azerbaijani and Russian artist (1928-2021)
- Aytaç YalmanTurkish general and statesperson (1940–2020)
- Tahir ElçiTurkish attorney (1966–2015)
- Tahir YahyaIraqi politician and former prime minister (1916−1986)
- Tahir ShahBritish journalist and documentary filmmakerborn 1966
- Taher ElgamalAmerican cryptographerborn 1955
- Tie DomiCanadian ice hockey playerborn 1969
- Sharaf al-Zaman al-Marwaziphysician and author of the "Nature of Animals"1056–1120
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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