Tamar (name)

Tamar (Hebrew: תָּמָר) is a female name of Hebrew origin, meaning "date" (the fruit), "date palm" or just "palm tree". There are three characters in the Bible with this name. The pronunciation of Tamar depends on each so-named person's language, culture, and idiolectic preference; typical pronunciation in the original Hebrew is /ˈtəmɑːr/; typical pronunciations in English are /ˈtɑːmər/ and /ˈtəmɑːr/. Variants include Tamary and "Tamara".

The name was not often used in traditional Jewish societies, possibly because both Biblical characters bearing the name are depicted as victims of sexual violence. It was, however, among the Biblical names revived and actively promoted by the Zionist pioneers, and is a common female name in contemporary Israel (often shortened, as in other languages, to "Tammy" (תמי) – which is sometimes treated as name on its own).

Tamar is common among Georgians, where its origin can be traced either to the above-mentioned Biblical Hebrew characters, to the sky goddess Tamar, who had an important role in the Georgians' mythology before their conversion to Christianity or to a convergence of both.

In turn, the popularity of the name (especially in the version "Tamara") among Russians and other Slavic peoples can in part be traced to the centuries-long political and cultural contacts between Russians and Georgians. In particular, Russia was touched by the fame of the medieval queen regnant Tamar of Georgia, reckoned among the greatest of her country's monarchs and who had a Russian husband.

Tamar was also among the Biblical names used by Puritans in the American Colonial Era in the 17th and 18th centuries. Puritan families sometimes used names of Biblical characters seen as sinful as a reminder of man's fallen state.

People with the given name Tamar

• Tamar (Genesis), daughter-in-law of Judah in the Bible
• Tamar (daughter of David), daughter of King David and full sister of his son Absalom in the Bible
• Tamar, daughter of David's son Absalom
• Tamar of Georgia (1160–1213), Georgian queen
• Tamar of Imereti (died 1556), Georgian princess
• Tamar of Kartli (1696–1746), Georgian queen
• Tamar of Mukhrani (died 1683), Georgian princess
• Támar (born 1980), American singer
• Tamar Abakelia (1905–1953), Georgian artist
• Tamar Ariav (born 1949), Israeli professor of education and President of Beit Berl College
• Tamar Amilakhori (fl. 17th-century), Safavid concubine of Georgian origin
• Tamar Beruchashvili (born 1961), Georgian politician
• Tamar Braxton (born 1977), American singer
• Tamar Eilam, Israeli-American computer scientist
• Tamar Garb (born 1957), British art historian
• Tamar Gendler (born 1965), American philosopher
• Tamar Gozansky (born 1940), Israeli politician
• Tamar Halperin (born 1976), Israeli musician
• Tamar Hermann (born 1957), Israeli political scientist
• Tamar Jacoby (born 1954), American writer
• Tamar Kaprelian (born 1986), American singer
• Tamar Katz (born 1988), Israeli figure skater
• Tamar Sanikidze (born 1978), Georgian politician
• Tamar Simon Hoffs (born 1934), American film director
• Tamar Slay (born 1980), American basketball player
• Tamar Tatuashvili (born 1991), Georgian football player
• Tamar Tavadze (1898–1975), Georgian artist
• Tamar Tumanyan (1907–1989), Soviet Armenian architect
• Tamar Zandberg (born 1976), Israeli politician

Fictional characters

• Hilary Tamar, fictional character in the novels of Sarah Caudwell
• Tamar Cauldwell, the central character in the epic poem Tamar by Robinson Jeffers
• Tamar Kir-Bataar, a character from the Grishaverse book series by Leigh Bardugo.

Equivalents in other languages

• Arabic: تمر tamr - which is the plural form and singular form "Tamra" (Arabic: تَمْرَة tamrah)
• Armenian: Թամար
• Georgian: თამარ

See also

• Tamar (disambiguation)
• Tamara (name)
• Tammy (given name)