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Tamara (given name)

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Tamara
Pronunciation/təˈmɑːrə, təˈmɛərə, ˈtæmərə/[1]
GenderFeminine
Language(s)Various
Origin
Word/nameDerived in Russian from the biblical name Tamar (Hebrew: תָּמָר) and spread to various other languages
Other names
Alternative spellingTammara
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

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Notable people with the given name Tamara include:

In the arts

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Politicians and activists

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Sportspeople

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Others

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See also

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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. p. 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:
  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.
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