Tamara
Tamara was given to 111 girls in 2025, #1,816 among girls’ names; 131,703 Americans have been recorded with it since 1917 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 120,000 Americans named Tamara and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (91% of everyone recorded); the median is 53 years old and half are between 43 and 61.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Tamara by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Tamara mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Tamara is “a female given name from Hebrew, regularly used in English since the mid-twentieth century.” Its etymology gives the sense “date palm” (תמר).
Of Slavic origin, mainly from Russian Тама́ра (Tamára), name of a 12th-century saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church, cognate with English biblical Tamar, from Hebrew תמר (tāmār, “date palm”).
/təˈmɑɹə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Tamara?
#1,816 among girls’ names, 2025
Tamara fell from #1,315 in 2015 to #1,816 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.10 to 0.07 per 1,000.
4,733 babies in 1970, the peak
Tamara peaked in 1970, when 4,733 babies were given it (4,721 girls, #79 among girls’ names). The 111 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 111 | #1,816 | 0.07 |
| 2024 | 115 | #1,767 | 0.07 |
| 2023 | 109 | #1,849 | 0.07 |
| 2022 | 120 | #1,741 | 0.07 |
| 2021 | 106 | #1,884 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 107 | #1,839 | 0.07 |
| 2019 | 124 | #1,699 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 114 | #1,798 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 141 | #1,561 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 155 | #1,484 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (101)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 181 | #1,315 | 0.10 |
| 2014 | 168 | #1,381 | 0.09 |
| 2013 | 187 | #1,272 | 0.11 |
| 2012 | 203 | #1,209 | 0.12 |
| 2011 | 217 | #1,134 | 0.12 |
| 2010 | 231 | #1,081 | 0.13 |
| 2009 | 300 | #908 | 0.16 |
| 2008 | 352 | #816 | 0.19 |
| 2007 | 416 | #700 | 0.22 |
| 2006 | 416 | #681 | 0.22 |
| 2005 | 438 | #639 | 0.24 |
| 2004 | 503 | #568 | 0.27 |
| 2003 | 575 | #499 | 0.31 |
| 2002 | 797 | #374 | 0.44 |
| 2001 | 623 | #447 | 0.35 |
| 2000 | 681 | #417 | 0.37 |
| 1999 | 750 | #383 | 0.42 |
| 1998 | 879 | #335 | 0.50 |
| 1997 | 933 | #316 | 0.54 |
| 1996 | 1,004 | #288 | 0.57 |
| 1995 | 1,070 | #258 | 0.61 |
| 1994 | 1,131 | #245 | 0.63 |
| 1993 | 1,020 | #269 | 0.56 |
| 1992 | 1,265 | #223 | 0.69 |
| 1991 | 1,262 | #227 | 0.67 |
| 1990 | 1,381 | #209 | 0.73 |
| 1989 | 1,486 | #187 | 0.81 |
| 1988 | 1,531 | #183 | 0.86 |
| 1987 | 1,735 | #160 | 1.0 |
| 1986 | 2,101 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1985 | 1,991 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 1984 | 2,289 | #124 | 1.4 |
| 1983 | 2,280 | #131 | 1.4 |
| 1982 | 2,361 | #129 | 1.4 |
| 1981 | 2,653 | #115 | 1.6 |
| 1980 | 2,808 | #108 | 1.7 |
| 1979 | 2,885 | #104 | 1.8 |
| 1978 | 2,801 | #105 | 1.8 |
| 1977 | 3,126 | #93 | 2.0 |
| 1976 | 3,086 | #91 | 2.1 |
| 1975 | 3,629 | #77 | 2.5 |
| 1974 | 4,525 | #64 | 3.1 |
| 1973 | 4,286 | #66 | 2.9 |
| 1972 | 3,531 | #84 | 2.3 |
| 1971 | 4,486 | #80 | 2.7 |
| 1970 | 4,721 | #79 | 2.7 |
| 1969 | 4,652 | #78 | 2.8 |
| 1968 | 4,308 | #80 | 2.6 |
| 1967 | 4,000 | #86 | 2.4 |
| 1966 | 3,482 | #98 | 2.1 |
| 1965 | 3,562 | #104 | 2.0 |
| 1964 | 3,807 | #108 | 2.0 |
| 1963 | 3,980 | #111 | 2.1 |
| 1962 | 3,822 | #119 | 1.9 |
| 1961 | 3,728 | #125 | 1.8 |
| 1960 | 3,665 | #124 | 1.8 |
| 1959 | 3,799 | #121 | 1.9 |
| 1958 | 3,412 | #127 | 1.7 |
| 1957 | 1,846 | #191 | 0.90 |
| 1956 | 728 | #323 | 0.36 |
| 1955 | 670 | #329 | 0.34 |
| 1954 | 664 | #328 | 0.34 |
| 1953 | 583 | #344 | 0.31 |
| 1952 | 531 | #358 | 0.29 |
| 1951 | 471 | #375 | 0.26 |
| 1950 | 387 | #406 | 0.23 |
| 1949 | 352 | #418 | 0.21 |
| 1948 | 324 | #443 | 0.19 |
| 1947 | 373 | #422 | 0.21 |
| 1946 | 306 | #441 | 0.19 |
| 1945 | 194 | #528 | 0.15 |
| 1944 | 193 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1943 | 168 | #582 | 0.12 |
| 1942 | 133 | #647 | 0.10 |
| 1941 | 143 | #587 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 179 | #516 | 0.16 |
| 1939 | 65 | #876 | 0.06 |
| 1938 | 48 | #1,044 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 32 | #1,300 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 31 | #1,318 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 29 | #1,379 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,476 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 20 | #1,765 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 19 | #1,868 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,568 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 10 | #3,030 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 6 | #4,507 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 9 | #3,411 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,834 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 7 | #4,384 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 6 | #4,530 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Tamara a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Tamara has been given almost only to girls: 417 boys in 101 years of records.
Girls and boys named Tamara: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Tamara, and how old are they?
120,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 91% of the 131,703 Americans ever recorded as Tamara. The median Tamara alive today is 53 years old; half are between 43 and 61.
The 2020 Census counted 128,711 people named Tamara (128,582 women and girls, 129 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 122,678 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 589 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 27,800 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 55,700 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 25,900 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,220 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,730 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Tamara born?
The states with the most babies named Tamara are California, Ohio and New York, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 15,984 | #1,567 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 8,285 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| New York | 7,252 | #1,815 | 0.7× |
| Texas | 7,155 | #2,190 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 7,072 | #1,618 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 6,703 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Indiana | 5,322 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Florida | 4,493 | #1,106 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 4,446 | #1,606 | 0.6× |
| North Carolina | 3,409 | not ranked | 0.9× |
Where Tamara is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Tamara is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1917 it was given 1.6 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Tamara with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 169,303 babies since 1880, Tamara is the most given (78% of them). In 2025 it was given to 111 of their 135 babies (82%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Tamara
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Tamara and names like it
- Compare Tamara and TameraBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1970sTamara peaked in 1970.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Tamara since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Tamara: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1970The year the most babies were named Tamara.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Tamara alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with TMost given first.