Taran has two independent sources: in Welsh it means "thunder", echoing the Celtic thunder god Taranis, and in Punjabi and Sanskrit it is a Sikh name usually explained as "raft" or "savior", one who helps others across. Lloyd Alexander used it for the hero of his Chronicles of Prydain. In the United States Taran peaked at number 2112 in 2001, drifted down to number 4326 in 2023 and recovered to number 2932 in 2025.