Tammy, Tamy, Tami, Tammii, Tam,
Tamar, Tamra, Tammara, Thamar, Themar, Tammie and Toma
Tamara (/təˈmɑːə/) is a feminine given name of
Hebrew,
Arabic,
Spanish,
Hindi,
Sanskrit and
Russian origins. It means
date,
date palm or
palm tree and it is derived from
biblical name
Tamar (
Hebrew: תמר tamar) and in the
Arabic from the
singular form Tamra (
Arabic: تَمْرَة tamrah) and the
plural form Tamar (
Arabic: تَمْر tamr). It used to be a common name in the 1970s in the English-speaking world. The variant, Tamar, is the second most popular name in Israel; it is also popular in Russia.
In the Bible, the name Tamar is associated with two female characters: one, the daughter-in-law of
Judah,
Tamar, and the other, the daughter of
King David and full sister of
Absalom,
Tamar. The latter Tamar was raped by her half-brother
Amnon, leading Absalom to later kill him. Absalom also named his daughter Tamar, who is described as a woman of great beauty, possibly contributing to the name's popularity.[7]
Variations of the name Tamara include
Tamera, Tamra, and Tammara in English, while biblical equivalents are
Tamar, Thamar, and Themar. Tamara can also be shortened to diminutives such as Tami, Tammi, Tammie, and
Tammy in English, and
Toma in Russian.[8][9]
Popularity
It began to be used in the English-speaking world in the 1930s and it peaked in the 1970s. In the 1980s it was specially used by Black Americans.[10] In the United States, the name was fairly common from the late 1950s to mid 1990s, bolstered by the popularity of the film Tammy and the Bachelor and its
theme song.[11][12] In the US the most girls named Tamara were born in 1970s and the number of Tamaras born per year was greater than 1,000 as late as 1996.[13] The name, as of 2023, is fairly uncommon in the US: in 2010, the name fell off the Top 1000
Social Security Administration baby names list, with fewer than 250 baby girls named Tamara that year.[12] Tamar(a) was once the most popular name for girls in Israel, in 2022 it dropped to second.[14][15] Tamara is top 320 of most popular names in Australia since 1930s. being specially popular during the 1970s until the 1990s.[16][17] In Spain it was a popular a name in the 1980s, this might have been because of
Isabel Preysler and
Carlos Falcó's child named
Tamara Falcó.[18] It is a popular name in Russia and it occurs with frequency in Russian literature.[18][10] It is also a common name in
Central and
Eastern European countries.[17]
This section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.