Tamer
Masculine · “Semitic tamar”
Tamer is given to both — 799 boys and 33 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
The date palm is the tree the Middle East was built on, and it has a name in both Hebrew and Arabic that became a personal name. Tamar and Tamer are the same word: the palm, and the fruit it carries.
How old is the name Tamer?
Tamer first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Tamer alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 800 people named Tamer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tamer most popular?
Tamer peaked in 1982, reaching #2518 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,177 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From tamar to Tamer
The story of Tamer
A date palm produces fruit for a century, needs little water once established, and supplies food, timber, thatch, rope, baskets and fuel; ancient agricultural texts treat it as the most valuable tree a household could own, and Mesopotamian and Egyptian art is full of it. The word is old and shared across the Semitic languages, and it became a name in both directions: Tamar appears three times in the Hebrew Bible, in Genesis, in the story of David's children and as a place name, and the Arabic Tamer and Tamir are ordinary modern men's names. The tree also supplied a standard image of an upright, well-provided life, which is why the psalm compares the righteous to it.
Meaning
Semitic tamar, a date palm
From the Semitic root behind Hebrew tamar and Arabic tamr, the date palm and its fruit. Tamar is a woman's name in the Hebrew Bible and Tamer a man's name in Arabic and Turkish, from the same word. The American peak is 1982.
How the name formed
- tamar
- Tamer
Related forms: Tamer · Tamer · Tamar
Pronouncing Tamer
TAH-mer
Two syllables, stress on the first. English speakers regularly say TAY-mer, which produces the English word tamer.
Nicknames for Tamer
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
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 200431 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2518reached in 1982
- Change vs 2023
- +20.0%6 in 2025, 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.
Tamer in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tamer in Arabic — same name
- Tamer in Turkish — same name
- Tamar in Hebrew — related form
Tamers among us
people named Tamer are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Tamer
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Polo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tamer's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Polo climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Polo's path sketches the road Tamer is walking now.
Tamer sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Tamer beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tamer in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and documented across several languages.
- Two syllables and five letters.
- It works in Arabic, Turkish and English settings.
- In English the spelling is an ordinary noun meaning one who tames.
- The Hebrew form of the same word is female.
- The 1982 peak dates its American use.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Tamer to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Tamer? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Tamer
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tamers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Tamer are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tamer in 2025?
- Tamer ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tamer?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Tamer — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tamer with classmates?
- Tamer will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tamer
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tamer? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tamer and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle