Latausha

Meaning & origin

Latausha emerged in the early 1970s, a product of the creative naming trends that flourished in Black communities. The name first appeared in Social Security records in 1970, climbing to its peak rank of roughly 1,100 in 1976. After that year, usage steadily declined; by the 2000s, fewer than one in every 1 million newborns received the name each year. Its trajectory has remained stable in recent years, reflecting very low but consistent usage. Unlike many names from the same era that experienced revivals, Latausha has not seen a resurgence. Although no single state claimed it as a dominant regional favorite, La-prefixed names were popular nationwide during the 1970s and 1980s. Latausha remains a distinctive choice, a fossil of a brief moment in naming fashion.

Latausha is a modern coinage typical of the late 20th century, formed by prefixing La to the name Tausha (a variant of Tasha, itself a diminutive of Natasha). Such La names were particularly fashionable in African American communities during the 1970s and 1980s. The name has no classical or biblical roots and its meaning is purely associative.