Name of the Week: Taryn

 

 

Origin:

Taryn came into use as a given when Hollywood actor Tyrone Power Jr. gave the name to his daughter, Taryn Power, as a version of his own name. Tyrone’s own name was a family surname, passed down through his famous acting Irish family, taken from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Tyrone of course is the Anglicised spelling of the Irish Tír Eoghain, meaning "land of Eoghan." Eoghan itself is an ancient name -- brother to Welsh Owen and Scottish Ewan -- which for centuries was thought to be the Celtic form of the Greek name Eugenios (Eugene), derived from eu "good, well" and genios "born."  Modern scholarship, however, now favours a Celtic origin for Owain, Eoghan and Ewan, reconstructing a Proto-Celtic form of the name: Esugenios, made from the elements *wesu- “excellent” and *geno- “born.” This first element could be meant for Esus, a prominent Celtic god whose name was most likely derived from *wesu. Alternatively the first element may derive from the Proto-Celtic *yewo- “yew,” a tree which was sacred to the Celts.   Not only is Taryn a variant of Tyrone, it has now become associated with, and used as an alternate feminine spelling of the Celtic boys’ name Taran “thunder”. Taran mac Ainftech was a seventh century King of the Picts and also a character in the legendary Welsh epic The Mabinogion. Both names were descended from Taranis, the ancient Celtic god of thunder.

Usage:

Taryn came into use as a given name immediately after 1953 when actor Tyrone Power Jr. and Linda Christian gave then name Taryn Stephanie Power to their second daughter.  Births in England and Wales show the immediate usage of the name after 1953. The variant Taryna briefly came into use in 1958 after the publication of Lights of Love, a novel by popular author Barbara Cartland in which the romantic heroine was named Taryna.    Taryn Taryna 1951:  1952:  1953:  1954:  1955:  1956:  1957:  1958: 1959:  1960:  1961:  1962:  1963:  1964:  1965:  0 births 0 births  0 births 1 birth 3 births 10 births 6 births 9 births 21 births 6 births  14 births 7 births 11 births 7 births 6 births 0 births 0 births  0 births 0 births 0 births  0 births 0 births 19 births 14 births 3 births 2 births 2 births 1 birth 1 birth 0 births Taryn Power herself became an actress in the 1970s, starring most notably in The Count of Monte Cristo (1975) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), giving the name continued exposure. click to enlarge Since 1996, both Taryn and Taran have been used as unisex names, though Taryn is predominantly feminine and Taran masculine.  For much of the past two decades, Taryn has been registered on average for around thirty births per year. It peaked in 2002 at #616 (45 births).  In 2014, Taryn ranked #1798 (16 births). Taran was #959 (30 births) and Taran was #4684 (4 births). It did not rank in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Famous Bearers:

Contemporary: * Taryn Power (b. 1953), American actress. * Taryn Fiebig (b. 1972), Australian opera and musical theatre soprano and cellist. * Taryn Manning (b. 1978), American actress, singer-songwriter, and fashion designer. * Taryn Heather (b. 1982), Australian racing cyclist. * Taryn Southern (b. 1986), American singer, actress, comedian, and YouTube personality. * Taryn Marler (b. 1988), Australian actress. Literature and Other Media: * Taryn Blake, character in American soap opera Paper Dolls (1984)

Variants:

Taran, Taryna

Pronunciation:

TA-rin [key]

Possible  diminutives:

Tarry

Sibling Names:

Paige     Sierra     Alexa      Seren      Fallon     Briar  Shea     Lorcan     Brogan     Keagan     Quinlan     Kai

Name Lists:

N/A

  

If you like Taryn you may also like:   Erin, Aderyn, Farrah, Robyn, Clodagh, Tamsin, Teagan, Kirsten, Brynja, Carys

 

Thanks to Chamali for requesting this post.