What is the origin of Terah?

Question

What is the origin that the name Terah comes from? What country / religion etc.?

Answer 1

Hey TB,

You are going to love this: Check the Family Search site, they have entries in 2000 BC - I never saw that before.
Pedigree Resource File
17. (TERIH)(THARA)(King of Agade) TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: 2126 BC Ur, Chaldea
18. (TERIH)(THARA)(King of Agade) TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: 2126 BC Ur, Chaldea
19. (TERIH)(THARA)(King of Agade) TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: abt 2128 BC Ur, Chaldea
20. Abraham O TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: 2046 BC Egypt
21. Abraham ben TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: Luke 3:34
22. Abraham bin TERAH - Pedigree Resource File
Gender: M Birth/Christening: 2046 BC Egypt

And there are more... You will see by the variety of countries that this name is all over the world. I suspect it is Jewish for that reason. There was no entry in GENFORUM or Swyrich.com, but Wikipedia mentions that it is found in the Hebrew Bible.

Answer 2

I am curious to know if it is being used as a first or a last name? I have seen Tirah in my research (first name), so it may be a variation on that?
Skip can really find some deep information. It might be exactly what you want to know. The other option is that you are working on your own heritage, in which case, something that ancient may be irrelevant. If you are working your ancestry, it is absolutely important to trace from yourself back, and carefully document what you find.
rootsweb.com also has family files submitted, and many entries of this as a surname. In looking through, I see MANY of these are based in Biblical genealogies. With no disrespect for anyone's beliefs... it is a question of how much you accept these as genealogically solid.