Tamara is a variant of the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
feminine given name
Tamar, a
biblical name
Names play a variety of roles in the Bible. They sometimes relate to the nominee's role in a Books of the Bible, biblical narrative, as in the case of Nabal, a foolish man whose name means "fool". Names in the Bible can represent human hopes, d ...
. The variant originated in the
Russian language
Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...
and spread into other languages through Russian.
In Russia, where ''Tamara'' is associated with
Tamar of Georgia
Tamar the Great ( ka, თამარ მეფე, tr , ; 1160 – 18 January 1213) queen regnant, reigned as the List of monarchs of Georgia#Kings of unified Georgia (1008–1490), Queen of Kingdom of Georgia, Georgia from 1184 to 1213, ...
, the name remains popular and frequently appears in Russian literature.
It is also common in
Central,
Eastern, and
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
an countries.
The name was formed through adding the Russian feminine suffix ''-a'' to ''Tamar'' (), which originated from the same generic noun for "
date" (the fruit), "
date palm
''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...
" or just "
palm tree
The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...
". The derived
Russian diminutive name is
Toma, and its other shortened forms include Tama, Mara, Tata, and Tusya.
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.
In the United States, the name was quite common from the late 1950s to mid-1990;
more than 1,000 girls were named Tamara annually through 1996, with the highest numbers occurring in the 1970s. As of 2023, Tamara is relatively uncommon in the United States; in 2010, it dropped off the Top 1,000
Social Security Administration
The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
baby names list, with fewer than 250 instances recorded that year.
Since the 1930s, Tamara has ranked among the top 320 most popular names in Australia, with peak popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s.
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.
include a character named Tamara, associated with the
River Tamar
The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...
, whose name is of
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
origin.
According to
Mabel Quiller-Couch's telling of the legend, Tamara was a sprite, the child of underground-living
gnome
A gnome () is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and widely adopted by authors, including those of modern fantasy literature. They are typically depict ...
s, 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
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...
, who fell in love with her, became the rivers
Taw and
Tavy.
The
Tamara Coast to Coast Way
The Tamara Coast to Coast Way is a walking route in England from Cremyll on the south coast of Cornwall to Morwenstow on its north coast. The route largely follows the River Tamar, which rises less than from the north coast, and is mostly ...
is an walking route following the river Tamar.
The name was also popular in Spain during the 1980s, possibly influenced by the daughter of
Isabel Preysler and
Carlos Falcó,
Tamara Falcó.
People named Tamara
Notable people with the given name Tamara include:
In the arts
*
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
The Dinka people () are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Mangalla-Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three provinces that were formerly part of southern ...
*
Tamara de Lempicka (1894–1980), Polish art deco painter
*
Tamara Natalie Madden
Tamara Natalie Madden (16 August 1975 – 4 November 2017) was a Jamaican-born painter and mixed-media artist working and living in the United States. Madden's paintings are allegories whose subjects are the people of the African diaspora.
Ea ...
(1975–2017), Jamaican-American painter
*
Tamara Makarova (1907–1997), Russian-Soviet actress
* Tamara Marthe (born 1985), known as
Shy'm
Tamara Marthe (born 28 November 1985), better known as Shy'm , is a French singer and actress. She released her first album, ''Mes fantaisies'', in 2006 and has since released six more albums. She had three Platinum albums, including her number ...
, French singer
*
Tamara Mello, American actress
*
Tamara Ralph (born 1981), Australian fashion designer
*
Tamara Rey, Cuban American actress and writer
*
Tamara Rojo
Tamara Rojo Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She was the English National Ballet's artistic director and a lead principal dancer with the company between 2012 and 2022. She was previously a principa ...
, Spanish ballet dancer, artistic director of English National Ballet
*
Tamara Salman, Iraqi-born designer
*
Tamara Macarena Valcárcel Serrano
Tamara may refer to:
People
* Tamara (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Tamara Macarena Valcárcel Serrano, Spanish singer, also known mononymously as Tamara
* Tamara, another stage name of Spanish ...
, 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
Tamara Taylor (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama '' Bones''. She also appeared in season seven of '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L. ...
(born 1970), Canadian actress
*
Tamara Todevska, Macedonian pop singer
*
Tamara Toumanova
Tamara Toumanova ( ka, თამარა თუმანოვა; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Russian-born Georgian-American prima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her ...
(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
Tamara Witmer, born March 21 1984, is an American model, actress and reality television star. She is best known for her appearance as Playboy's Playmate of the Month as Miss August 2005 and as the cover girl for the October 2006 issue of '' P ...
, American actress and model
Politicians and activists
*
Tamara Adrián, Venezuelan politician
*
Tamara van Ark, Dutch politician
*
Tamara Duisenova (born 1965), Kazakh politician
*
Tamara Frolova, Russian politician
*
Tamara Jansen
Tamara N. Jansen (born 1967 or 1968) is a Canadian politician and businesswoman who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Cloverdale—Langley City since winning reelection in the 2024 by-election. A member of the Conservative Par ...
, 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
*
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
Tamara Téglássy (born 29 September 1968 in Debrecen) is a Hungarian former competitive figure skater. She is an eight-time Hungarian Figure Skating Championships, Hungarian national champion (1984–1991) and competed at the Figure skating at t ...
(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
*
*
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
Tamara Faye Messner (née LaValley, formerly Bakker ; March 7, 1942 – July 20, 2007) was an American evangelist. She co-founded the televangelist program ''The PTL Club'' with her husband Jim Bakker in 1974. They had hosted their own puppet- ...
(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
Tamara Goldman Sher, Ph.D. (November 9, 1962) is a licensed clinical psychologist and professor at The Family Institute at Northwestern University. (born 1962), American psychologist
*
Tamara Sujú, Venezuelan activist
See also
*
*
Notes
References
{{reflist
Given names
Feminine given names
Russian feminine given names
Czech feminine given names
Polish feminine given names
Slovak feminine given names
Slovene feminine given names
Macedonian feminine given names
Croatian feminine given names
Serbian feminine given names
English feminine given names
Spanish feminine given names