Tamara (given name)

Feminine given name

TamaraPronunciation| /təˈmɑːrə, təˈmɛərə, ˈtæmərə/[1]

|

Gender| Feminine
Language(s)| Various
Origin
Word/name| Derived in Russian from the biblical name Tamar (Hebrew: תָּמָר) and spread to various other languages
Other names
Alternative spelling| Tammara
Variant form(s)| Tamra, Tamera, Thamara
Short form(s)| English: Tammie, Tammy
Russian: Mara, Tama
Pet form(s)| Toma (Russian)
[2][3]

Tamara is a variant of the Hebrew feminine given name Tamar, a biblical name.[a] The variant originated in the Russian language and spread into other languages through Russian.[5][4] In Russia, where Tamara is associated with Tamar of Georgia,[6][7][b] the name remains popular and frequently appears in Russian literature.[10][11] It is also common in Central, Eastern, and Southeast European countries.[12][13]

The name was formed through adding the Russian feminine suffix -a to Tamar (Hebrew: תָּמָר), which originated from the same generic noun for "date" (the fruit), "date palm" or just "palm tree". The derived Russian diminutive name is Toma, and its other shortened forms include Tama, Mara, Tata, and Tusya.[2][14]

It first appeared in the English-speaking world in the 1930s and reached its peak in the 1970s. In the 1980s, it gained particular popularity among Black Americans.[11] In the United States, the name was quite common from the late 1950s to mid-1990;[15] more than 1,000 girls were named Tamara annually through 1996, with the highest numbers occurring in the 1970s.[16] As of 2023, Tamara is relatively uncommon in the United States; in 2010, it dropped off the Top 1,000 Social Security Administration baby names list, with fewer than 250 instances recorded that year.[15] Since the 1930s, Tamara has ranked among the top 320 most popular names in Australia, with peak popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s.[17][12]

In the United Kingdom, it was the 137th most popular girl's name in 1997 but had dropped to 779th in 2021 when it was given to 47 babies.[18] Cornish legends include a character named Tamara, associated with the River Tamar,[19] whose name is of Celtic origin.[20][c] According to Mabel Quiller-Couch's telling of the legend, Tamara was a sprite, the child of underground-living gnomes, who escaped to the earth's surface near Morwenstow and was turned into a river by her father when she refused to return underground, while the giants Tawridge and Tavy from Dartmoor, who fell in love with her, became the rivers Taw and Tavy.[25] The Tamara Coast to Coast Way is an 87-mile (140 km) walking route following the river Tamar.[26]

The name was also popular in Spain during the 1980s, possibly influenced by the daughter of Isabel Preysler and Carlos Falcó, Tamara Falcó.[10]

## People named Tamara

[edit]

Notable people with the given name Tamara include:

### In the arts

[edit]

* Tamara Abdushukurova (1940–2025), Tajikistani actress
* Tamara Acosta, Chilean actress
* Tamara Al-Gabbani, Emirati fashion designer
* Tamara Arciuch (born 1975), Polish actress
* Tamara Bleszynski (born 1974), Indonesian actress, singer, and model
* Tamara Braun (born 1971), American soap opera actress
* Tamara Brooks (1941–2012), American choral conductor
* Tamara Buciuceanu (1929–2019), Romanian actress
* Tamara Danz (1952–1996), German rock singer
* Tamara Degtyaryova (1944–2018), Russian stage, television and film actress
* Tamara Divíšková (born 1934), Czech ceramist and costume designer
* Tamara Dobson (1947–2006), African-American actress and model
* Tamara Dragičević (born 1989), Serbian actress and model
* Tamara Drasin (c. 1905 – 1943), Ukrainian-born singer-actress
* Tamara Feldman (born 1980), American actress
* Tamara Gorski, Canadian actress
* Tamara Gverdtsiteli (born 1962), Georgian-Russian singer, actress and composer
* Tamara Lindeman, also known by the name Tamara Hope, Canadian actress and musician
* Tamara Lisitsian (1923–2009), Soviet film director and screenwriter
* Tamara Jaber (born 1982), Lebanese-Australian singer and songwriter
* Tamara Jones (born 1987), stage name of Nigerian singer and actress Tamara Eteimo
* Tamara Johnson-George, American singer and rapper, and member of the R&B singing group Sisters with Voices
* Tamara Karsavina (1885–1978), Russian ballerina
* Tamara Kučan (born 1989), Serbian author
* Tamara Maria Kler, Swiss DJ known by her stage name Dinka
* Tamara de Lempicka (1894–1980), Polish art deco painter
* Tamara Natalie Madden (1975–2017), Jamaican-American painter
* Tamara Makarova (1907–1997), Russian-Soviet actress
* Tamara Marthe (born 1985), known as Shy'm, French singer
* Tamara Mello, American actress
* Tamara Podemski, Canadian film and television actress and writer
* Tamara Ralph (born 1981), Australian fashion designer
* Tamara Rey, Cuban American actress and writer
* Tamara Rojo, Spanish ballet dancer, artistic director of English National Ballet
* Tamara Salman, Iraqi-born designer
* Tamara Macarena Valcárcel Serrano, Spanish singer known as Tamara
* Tamara Sinyavskaya, Russian mezzo-soprano
* Tamara Sky, Puerto Rican DJ and model
* Tamara Smart (born 2005), English actress
* Tamara Taylor (born 1970), Canadian actress
* Tamara Todevska, Macedonian pop singer
* Tamara Toumanova (1919–1996), Georgian-Armenian ballerina and actress
* Tamara Tunie (born 1959), American actress
* Tamara Diane Wimer (born 1972), known as Isis Gee, American singer
* Tamara Witmer, American actress and model

### Politicians and activists

[edit]

* Tamara Adrián, Venezuelan politician
* Tamara van Ark, Dutch politician
* Tamara Duisenova (born 1965), Kazakh politician
* Tamara Frolova, Russian politician
* Tamara Grove, American politician
* Tamara Jansen, Canadian politician
* Tamara Kronis, Canadian politician
* Tamara Manukova (born 1953), Belarusian politician
* Tamara Mazzi, German politician
* Tamara Smith, Australian politician
* Tamara Stohlová (born 1989), Slovak politician

### Sportspeople

[edit]

* Tamara Boroš (born 1977), Croatian table tennis player.
* Tamara Bykova (born 1958), Soviet–Russian track and field athlete
* Tamara Čurović (born 1994), Serbian tennis player
* Tamāra Dauniene (born 1951), Soviet–Latvian Olympic basketball player
* Tamara Dorofejev (born 1984), Hungarian figure skater
* Tamara Dronova (born 1993), Russian cyclist
* Támara Echegoyen (born 1984), Spanish sailor
* Tamara Gómez Garrido (born 1991), Spanish professional triathlete
* Tamara Horacek (born 1995), Croatian-born French Olympic handball player
* Tamara Johnson-George (born 1971), American indoor volleyball player
* Tamara Larrea (born 1973), Cuban beach volleyball player
* Tamara McKinney (born 1962), American skier
* Tamara Metal (1933–2022), Israeli Olympic high jumper and long jumper, and captain of the Israel women's national basketball team
* Tamara Morávková (born 2003), Slovak footballer
* Tamara Moskvina (born 1941), Soviet–Russian skater and pairs figure skating coach
* Tamara Nowitzki (born 1976), Paralympic swimming competitor from Australia
* Tamara Podpalnaya (born 1972), Russian Paralympic powerlifter
* Tamara Polyakova (bon 1960), Soviet–Ukrainian cyclist
* Tamara Radočaj (born 1987), Serbian basketball player
* Tamara Radojević (born 1992), Serbian handball player
* Tamara Safonova (born 1946), Soviet–Russian Olympic diver
* Tamara Salaški (born 1988), Serbian sprinter
* Tamara Sivakova (born 1965), Paralympian athlete from Belarus
* Tamara Téglássy (born 1968), Hungarian figure skater
* Tamara Tikhonova (born 1964), Soviet–Russian cross-country skier
* Tamara Tyshkevich (1931–1997), Soviet shot putter
* Tamara Yerofeeva (born 1982), Ukrainian Olympic rhythmic gymnast
* Tamara Zamotaylova (born 1939), Soviet–Russian Olympic gymnast, and gymnastics coach and referee
* Tamara Zidanšek (born 1997), Slovenian tennis player

### Others

[edit]

* Tamara Beckwith – British socialite (born 1970)
* Tamara Bunke (1937–1967), Argentinian communist revolutionary
* Tamara Czartoryska (born 1978), Polish-Spanish model and aristocrat
* Tamara Dávila (born c. 1981), Nicaraguan sociologist, feminist and political activist
* Tamara Ecclestone (born 1984), English-Serbian socialite, television personality and model
* Tamara Falcó (born 1981), Spanish aristocrat, socialite and television personality
* Tamara Finkelstein (born 1967), British civil servant
* Tamara Griesser Pečar (born 1947), Slovenian historian
* Kera Tamara (c. 1340 – c. 1389), known as Tamara Hejtan, Bulgarian princess
* Tamara E. Jernigan (born 1959), American astrophysicist and NASA astronaut
* Tamara Levitt (born 1971), Canadian author, mindfulness instructor, and voice-over artist
* Tamara Mellon (born 1967), British fashion entrepreneur, president and founder of shoes company Jimmy Choo
* Tammy Faye Messner (1942–2007), American televangelist and reality TV star
* Tamara Mkheidze (1915–2007), Georgian arachnologist
* Tamara Moss, Indian model
* Tamara Gräfin von Nayhauß (born 1972), German television presenter
* Tamara Pamyatnykh (1919–2012), Soviet fighter pilot during the Second World War
* Tamara Samsonova (born 1947), Russian murderer and suspected serial killer
* Tamara Sher (born 1962), American psychologist
* Tamara Sujú, Venezuelan activist

Name list

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.

## See also

[edit]

* All pages with titles containing Tamara
* All pages with titles containing Tammara

## Notes

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1. ^ There are three biblical women named Tamar: One is Tamar of the book of Genesis—daughter-in-law of Judah. Another is Tamar, daughter of David; she was raped by her half-brother Amnon, who was then killed by Absalom, her full brother. Absalom named his daughter also Tamar, described as a woman of great beauty.[4]
2. ^ recognised by the Orthodox church as Saint Tamara the Right Believing[8][9]
3. ^ In the Latin translation of Ptolemy's Geography, The Latin name of the Tamar is Tamarus, whereas one of the settlements on the river is named Tamara.[21][22][23]

Tamara occurs as a latinised name of the Tamar in John Milton's poem Epitaphium Damonis, the final of the Latin poems in his 1645 Poems collection.[24]

## References

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1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
2. ^ a b Benson, Morton (1967). Dictionary of Russian Personal Names. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 163, 167. ISBN 978-0-8122-7452-3.
3. ^ Macleod, Iseabail; Freedman, Terry (1995). The Wordsworth Dictionary of First Names. Wordsworth Editions. p. 214\. ISBN 978-1-85326-366-8.
4. ^ a b Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). "Tamara". A Dictionary of First Names (Book via online reference platform). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1. "Tamara ♀. Russian: probably derived from the Hebrew name Tamar, from a vocabulary word meaning 'date palm', with the addition of the feminine suffix -a. ..."
5. ^ "Tàmara". Hrvatski jezični portal (Dictionary) (in Croatian). Znanje [hr]. Retrieved 31 October 2024. "transl. f. personal name of biblical origin (the name spreads through Russian)"
6. ^ Dictionary of first names. London: Claremont Books. 1995. ISBN 978-1-85471-707-8.
7. ^ "Significado do nome Tamara". Crescer (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 29 April 2024.
8. ^ "St. Tamara the Right Believing". St. George Orthodox Church of Boston. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
9. ^ "St. Tamara, Queen of Georgia". Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
10. ^ a b "Significado del nombre Tamara: origen e historia - Nombres de niña". Ser Padres (in Spanish). 4 August 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
11. ^ a b Dunkling, Leslie (1984). The Facts on file dictionary of first names. New York, N.Y.: Facts on File Publications. ISBN 978-0-87196-274-4.
12. ^ a b "Popularity for the name Tamara - Behind the Name". www.behindthename.com. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
13. ^ Slovakia; Transylvania, Romania; Serbia:

* "Top baby names in Slovakia for 2022 announced". The Slovak Spectator. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
* Kovács, Zsolt (8 January 2024). "Sepsiszentgyörgyön az Anna és a Krisztián nevek voltak a legnépszerűbbek" [Anna and Krisztián Were the Most Popular Names in Sepsiszentgyörgy]. Maszol (in Hungarian). Retrieved 1 November 2024.
* Попис становништва, домаћинстава и станова 2022. године. Најчешћа имена и презимена: подаци по општинама и градовима [2022 Population, Household, and Housing Census: Most Common Names and Surnames by Municipality and City] (PDF) (statistical review) (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 2024. ISBN 978-86-6161-253-4. COBISS.SR 139366921.

14. ^ Superanskaya, Aleksandra Vasilyevna (2005). "Тамара". Современный словарь личных имён: Сравнение. Происхождение. Написание [Modern Dictionary of Personal Names: Comparison. Origin. Spelling] (in Russian). Moscow: Ajris-press. p. 345\. ISBN 5-8112-1399-9.
15. ^ a b "Popular Baby Names". www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
16. ^ "Girl Name Tamara - Trends, Comments and Popularity of Tamara". www.babynameshub.com (Online database). Archived from the original on 28 August 2018.
17. ^ Nicholas, Josh. "Close call: most popular Australian baby names of the past century revealed". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2024.
18. ^ "Tamara". www.ukbabynames.com. UK Baby Names. Retrieved 31 October 2024.
19. ^ Martin, Sarah (25 September 2024). "Winning logo design for October's Tamar Valley River Festival unveiled". Tavistock Times Gazette. Retrieved 7 November 2024. "... Tamara the nymph from the local legend that tells the story of the origins of the three rivers the Tamar, Tavy and Taw."
20. ^ Mills, A. D. (2011). "Thames". A Dictionary of British Place Names (Book via online reference platform). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-960908-6.
21. ^ "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), TAMARA". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
22. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20120120051831/http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/dumnonii.htm
23. ^ https://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/tamaris/
24. ^ Todd, Henry John (1809). The Poetical Works of John Milton: With Notes of Various Authors. Vol. 7\. London: Printed for J. Johnson [etc.] by Law and Gilbert. p. 385 – via Internet Archive. "Et Thamesis meus ante omnes, et fusca metallis Tamara, et extremis me discant Orcades undis"
25. ^ Quiller-Couch, Mabel (1914). "The Legend of the Tamar, the Tavy and the Taw". Cornwall's Wonderland. Retrieved 2 November 2024 – via Project Gutenberg.
26. ^ "Tamara Coast to Coast Way". Tamar Valley National Landscape. Retrieved 31 October 2024.

*[transl.]: translation