girls' name ★ peaked 1970

Tamara

Meaning date palm Gender Girl Rank 2025 #1,816 Trend → Stable

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…

Rank 2025
#1,816
among girls · ↓49 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
111
named Tamara · -3% vs 2024
How common
1 in 14,480
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1970
4,733 babies
All-time total
131,703
#309 all-time among girls
First recorded
1917
in Social Security records

Tamara popularity over time

131,703 babies have been named Tamara since 1917, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
123418801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – – – – – –
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s 6 – 6 1 – #4,532
1920s 30 – 30 3 +400% #3,413
1930s 292 – 292 29 +873% #876
1940s 2,365 – 2,365 237 +710% #419
1950s 13,091 14 13,105 1,311 +454% #121
1960s 39,006 110 39,116 3,912 +198% #78
1970s 37,076 164 37,240 3,724 -5% #64
1980s 21,235 109 21,344 2,134 -43% #108
1990s 10,695 15 10,710 1,071 -50% #209
2000s 5,101 5 5,106 511 -52% #374
2010s 1,721 – 1,721 172 -66% #1,081
2020s (to 2025) 668 – 668 111 -35% #1,741

Where Tamara is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 111 0.07 outside top 500
2027 111 0.07 outside top 500
2028 112 0.07 outside top 500
2029 112 0.07 outside top 500
2030 112 0.07 outside top 500

Where Tamara is most popular

Girls named Tamara per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.069 per 1,000. Strongest in New Jersey, Florida, and New York.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Tamara born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
New Jersey 27 0.150 +116%
Florida 59 0.138 +99%
New York 44 0.111 +61%
Texas 69 0.086 +24%
California 68 0.081 +17%
Illinois 18 0.079 +14%
Missouri 5 0.041 -40%
Virginia 5 0.029 -58%
Michigan 5 0.027 -60%
Georgia 6 0.026 -62%
Pennsylvania 5 0.021 -69%
Alaska – – –
Alabama – – –
Arkansas – – –
Arizona – – –
Colorado – – –
Connecticut – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Iowa – – –
Idaho – – –
Indiana – – –
Kansas – – –
Kentucky – – –
Louisiana – – –
Massachusetts – – –
Maryland – – –
Maine – – –
Minnesota – – –
Mississippi – – –
Montana – – –
North Carolina – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Hampshire – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
Ohio – – –
Oklahoma – – –
Oregon – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Carolina – – –
South Dakota – – –
Tennessee – – –
Utah – – –
Vermont – – –
Washington – – –
Wisconsin – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Tamara

Tamara is rare for girls in the United States, ranked #1,816 in 2025 with 111 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1917, 131,703 American babies have been named Tamara. Its peak came in 1970, when 4,733 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1970s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Tamara stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Tamara?

The median living Tamara is about 52 years old; half are between 42 and 60. An estimated 123 thousand people named Tamara are alive in the United States today.

median 52 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Tamara year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 111 #1,816 – –
2024 115 #1,767 – –
2023 109 #1,849 – –
2022 120 #1,741 – –
2021 106 #1,884 – –
2020 107 #1,839 – –
2019 124 #1,699 – –
2018 114 #1,798 – –
2017 141 #1,561 – –
2016 155 #1,484 – –
2015 181 #1,315 – –
2014 168 #1,381 – –
2013 187 #1,272 – –
2012 203 #1,209 – –
2011 217 #1,134 – –
2010 231 #1,081 – –
2009 300 #908 – –
2008 352 #816 – –
2007 416 #700 – –
2006 416 #681 – –
2005 438 #639 – –
2004 503 #568 – –
2003 575 #499 – –
2002 797 #374 5 #12,286
2001 623 #447 – –
2000 681 #417 – –
1995 1,070 #258 – –
1990 1,381 #209 9 #5,761
1985 1,991 #148 16 #3,059
1980 2,808 #108 13 #3,407
1975 3,629 #77 17 #2,528
1970 4,721 #79 12 #2,874
1965 3,562 #104 18 #1,909
1960 3,665 #124 8 #3,311
1955 670 #329 – –
1950 387 #407 – –
1945 194 #528 – –
1940 179 #516 – –
1935 29 #1,379 – –
1930 10 #3,031 – –
1925 7 #4,385 – –
1920 – – – –
1915 – – – –
1910 – – – –
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – – –
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Tamara

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Tamara Taylor Tamara Taylor Canadian actress (born 1970) Contemporary
  2. 2 Tamara Tunie Tamara Tunie American actress (born 1959) Contemporary
  3. 3 Tamara de Lempicka Tamara de Lempicka Polish painter (1894–1980) 1898–1980 · 19th century
  4. 4 Tamara Bunke Tamara Bunke Argentine-born East German revolutionary and guerrilla (1937–1967) Contemporary
  5. 5 Tamara Dobson Tamara Dobson American actress and model 1947–2006 · Contemporary
  6. 6 Tamara Toumanova Tamara Toumanova Georgian-American ballerina (1919–1996) Contemporary
  7. 7 Tamara Karsavina Tamara Karsavina Russian ballet dancer (1885–1978) 19th century
  8. 8 Tamara Todevska Tamara Todevska Macedonian singer (born 1985) Contemporary
  9. 9 Tamara Press Tamara Press Soviet athlete (1937–2021) Contemporary
  10. 10 Tamara E. Jernigan Tamara E. Jernigan American astronaut and astrophysicist (born 1959) Contemporary
  11. 11 Tamara Gverdtsiteli Tamara Gverdtsiteli Georgian singer (born 1962) Contemporary
  12. 12 Tamara McKinney Skier, United States b. 1962 · Contemporary
  13. 13 Tamara Gee Tamara Gee American pop singer (born 1972) Contemporary
  14. 14 Tamara Gachechiladze Tamara Gachechiladze Georgian singer, songwriter and actress (born 1983) Contemporary
  15. 15 Tamara Bykova Russian track and field athlete (born 1958) Contemporary
  16. 16 Tamara Smirnova Soviet astronomer (1935–2001) Contemporary
  17. 17 Tamara Tikhonova Russian Olympic cross-country skier (born 1964) Contemporary
  18. 18 Tamara Tyshkevich Tamara Tyshkevich Soviet shot putter 1931–1997 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Tamara, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Tamara?

The median living Tamara is about 52 years old. Half of all living Tamaras are between 42 and 60 years old.

How many people named Tamara are alive today?

An estimated 123 thousand people named Tamara are alive in the United States, based on 131,703 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Tamara mean?

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”).

How popular is the name Tamara in 2025?

Tamara ranked #1,816 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 111 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Tamara?

131,703 babies have been named Tamara in the United States since 1917, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Tamara most popular?

Tamara peaked in 1970, when 4,733 newborns received the name.

Is Tamara a boy or girl name?

Tamara is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Tamara rising or falling?

Tamara is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Tamara become more popular?

Tamara looks stable. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 112 girls named Tamara in 2030, ranking outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Tamara?

Well-known people named Tamara include Tamara Taylor (actor), Tamara Tunie (actor), Tamara de Lempicka (painter).

Names like Tamara

Names that sound and feel close to Tamara: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Tamara with similar names → More names starting with T →