Tallulah
Tallulah was the 940th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 276 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 811th with 345 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 513 places. More babies were named Tallulah in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning from a Cherokee place name (meaning uncertain) · Cherokee
Say it tuh-LOO-luh /təˈlulə/
- Rank in 2025
- #940 girls, up 188 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 276girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2023345 babies
- Total since 1880
- 4,102babies recorded
What does the name Tallulah mean?
Tallulah comes from the Tallulah River and Tallulah Falls in north Georgia, a Cherokee place name, according to Wiktionary. Its meaning is uncertain. Name sites often call it a Choctaw word for 'leaping water', but we found no dictionary support for that. The name became known through the actress Tallulah Bankhead (1902-1968) of Alabama, who was named after her grandmother.
Tallulah (Cherokee, “river and falls name”)
How sure is this? Uncertain. The Cherokee origin of the place name is reported; its meaning is not established.
Other explanations you may read: Choctaw 'leaping water'.
Related names: Lula, Talulla.
See also: names from places.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Tallulah', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Nicknames for Tallulah
The usual nicknames for Tallulah are Lula, Lulu and Tally. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Tallulah in the last five years, 37 were named Lula, against 48 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lula | Modern | #1,937 | 552 |
| Lulu · also for Luna, Louise, Louisa | Modern | #3,194 | 286 |
| Tally | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Tallulahs go by each one.
Tallulah popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #940 | 276 |
| 2020 | #1,128 | 214 |
| 2010 | #1,719 | 122 |
| 2000 | #4,391 | 28 |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | #10,233 | 6 |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Tallulah, counting every spelling?
Tallulah is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #779 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #940 for Tallulah on its own. Together these spellings went to 349 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tallulah | 276 | #940 | 1,473 |
| Talulah | 38 | #3,896 | 231 |
| Talula | 19 | #6,298 | 113 |
| Talulla | 6 | #14,753 | 65 |
| Talullah | 10 | #10,034 | 54 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Tallulah?
276 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Tallulah (0.08 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Tallulah born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 30 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Tallulah.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Tallulah?
About 4,000 people born in the US named Tallulah are alive today, with a median age of 8; half are between 4 and 15. That makes Tallulah a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Tallulah by state
How common Tallulah was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Oregon (2.6×), Georgia (2.0×), Michigan (1.9×), Pennsylvania (1.8×), Massachusetts (1.7×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, Connecticut, Texas.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Tallulah: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Tallulah, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Tallulah · Sibling names for Tallulah
Questions about the name Tallulah
What does Tallulah mean?
Tallulah is usually explained as “from a Cherokee place name (meaning uncertain)”, but this is uncertain. Certainty: uncertain.
How popular is the name Tallulah?
Tallulah was the 940th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 276 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 811th with 345 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 513 places. More babies were named Tallulah in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Tallulah a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Tallulah in the US.
Where is Tallulah most popular?
In 2021–2025, Tallulah was most common in Oregon (0.48 per 1,000 girls), followed by South Dakota and Maine.