Given name & surname
Tariq
“one who demands entry; of the morning star”
Tariq is used as a given name and a surname. One Arabic interpretation is “one who demands entry; of the morning star.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Arabic interpretation is “one who demands entry; of the morning star.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic طَارِق (“messenger, nocturnal visitor, or morning star”); its root is Arabic ط ر ق.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1963. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Tariq through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,885
- 6,878 boys · 7 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 521 babies
- 2025
- 107
- #1,599 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −1%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 107 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,599 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 1.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 514 in 1998. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (12). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 7,707 as a first name in 2020; 3,347 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.
Tariq’s family of names
Tariq has a related form in Tarek. Tariq has a related form in Tarik. In English usage, Tariq has a related form in Tareq.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Tarikvariant
- Tarekvariant
- Tareqvariant · English
- Tarickvariant
- Tareekvariant
- Tariquevariant
- Taariqvariant
- Tarriqlikely variant
Show 5 moreShow fewer
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Tariq
- Tariq ibn Ziyad8th-century Muslim general670–720
- Tariq AliBritish political activist, writer, and historian (born 1943)
- Tariq AzizIraqi Foreign Minister under Saddam Hussein (1936-2015)
- Tariq RamadanSwiss Muslim scholarborn 1962
- Tariq LampteyGhanaian association football playerborn 2000
- Tariq al-HashimiIraqi politicianborn 1942
- Tariq Abdul-WahadFrench basketball player (born 1974)
- Tariq JamilPakistani islamic scholarborn 1953
- Tariq AnwarBritish film editorborn 1945
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Tariq, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Tawfik
Tawfik is a surname from Arabic.
>99% boys
Tawfiq
“one who is successful”
>99% boys
Talon
“resembling a claw” · “resembling a bird's claw”
96% boys · 4% girls
Aqil
Aqil is a masculine given name from Arabic.
>99% boys
Colwyn
“from the river” · “from the river in Wales”
>99% boys
Landen
“from the grassy meadow”
98% boys · 2% girls
Rahmi
Rahmi is a masculine given name from Ottoman Turkish, ultimately from Arabic. It is used in Turkish.
>99% boys
Humza
Humza is a masculine given name from Urdu, ultimately from Arabic.
>99% boys