Tamara (given name)

Feminine given name

Tamara 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.

Tamara 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). Tamara also has Spanish roots, meaning brushwood, and Sanskrit roots, meaning water. In Russian it means beauty and grace and it is typically associated with the queen Tamar of Georgia. In Hindi (Hindi: तामर tāmara) the name Tamara means spice. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Tamar(a) was once the most popular name for girls in Israel, in 2022 it dropped to second. Tamara is top 320 of most popular names in Australia since 1930s. being specially popular during the 1970s until the 1990s. 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. It is a popular name in Russia and it occurs with frequency in Russian literature. It is also a common name in Central and Eastern European countries.