Tamar
Masculine · “A palm tree”
Tamar is given to both — 886 boys and 6,158 girls since 1880. See Tamar as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Tamar belongs to two women in the Hebrew Bible, and both of their stories are ones the text refuses to tidy up. One of them wins her case by producing physical evidence; the other is given a chapter that has no comfort in it at all.
How old is the name Tamar?
Tamar first appears in US birth records in 1970 — 55 years ago. The typical Tamar alive today was born around 1998, making them about 27 years old. About 900 people named Tamar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tamar most popular?
Tamar peaked in 1976, reaching #2054 nationally. See the whole 1976 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Tamar
Genesis stops its main narrative in the middle to tell the first Tamar's story, and it is a courtroom scene. Twice widowed and left without the support she was owed, she disguises herself, meets her father-in-law on the road, and takes his seal, his cord and his staff as a pledge for payment. When she is later accused and about to be burned, she produces them: whoever owns these is the father. He admits it and says she is more in the right than he is. The second Tamar, generations later, is a king's daughter, and the text narrates what is done to her plainly, records that the king was angry and did nothing, and leaves her without a resolution. Neither story is softened anywhere in the tradition.
Meaning
A palm tree
The Hebrew word names the date palm, and it was used as a woman's name from very early on. The tree carried associations of uprightness and fruitfulness in the poetry of the region, which is presumably why.
Pronouncing Tamar
TAY-mar
Two syllables, stress at the front in American English. Hebrew says tah-MAR, with the weight at the back.
Nicknames for Tamar
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1970
- Most boys named
- 200042 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2054reached in 1976
- Change vs 2021
- +60.0%8 in 2023, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Tamar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tamar in Hebrew — same name
- Tamari in Georgian — same name
- Tamara in Russian — related form
Tamars among us
people named Tamar are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Tamar sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled, concrete and pleasant.
- It is short, strong and easy for anyone to say.
- It is used across Israel, Georgia and Eastern Europe in closely related forms.
- The American and Hebrew pronunciations put the stress in different places.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
- Both biblical bearers appear in difficult stories, which is worth knowing before somebody else explains them.
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Tamar
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Tamars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Tamar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tamar in 2025?
- Tamar is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Tamar with classmates?
- Tamar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Thomas#34 · Timothy#203 · Tyler#219 · Terry#1115 · Theodore#4 · Travis#434 · Todd#1609 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tamar? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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