You'll find the meaning of the name "Taras" in this website's database by clicking on the blue link. As for further history on the name, the most famous Taras which comes to mind is Taras Bulba, a cossack character in a novel by the 19th century Russian author Nikolai Gogol. The character was brought to life on the big screen by Yul Brynner, in a film which carefully deleted the anti-Semitism which is to be found in Gogol's original novel.
-- Nanaea