The name Tarf derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *tauro- 'bull, aurochs'.[2] Bulls occur frequently in Celtic river names, and these names may have had a mythological rather than literal referent.[2][3] Like other examples of this name in southern Scotland, 'Tarf' is Gaelic in form but is likely to derive in turn from an earlier Cumbriccognate.[2][3]
^ abWatson, William J. (1926). The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland. Edinburgh and London. p. 453.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)