Tamarah
A feminine name of unclear origin, possibly a variant of the biblical name "Tamar".
Name Census estimates that about 1,215 living Americans carry the first name Tamarah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamarah today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamarah births was 1996 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamarah. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Tamarah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 282,102 Americans
Peak year
1996
38 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2021 SSA rank
#17,424
Tracked since 1957
Census
Tamarah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,277 people with the first name Tamarah, which placed it at #10,442 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,442
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamarah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamarah is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Black (34.1%) and Hispanic (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tamarah described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tamarah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.8% · 636
- Black or African American34.1% · 436
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 91
- Two or more races6.5% · 83
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 9
Popularity
Tamarah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamarah from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 304 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamarah by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tamarah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tamarahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Tamarah, while Ohio, New Jersey, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamarah
The name Tamarah is believed to have originated from the Hebrew language and culture. It is a feminine variation of the name Tamar, which means "date palm tree" or "palm tree." The name is derived from the Biblical figure Tamar, who was the daughter-in-law of Judah and played a significant role in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
Tamar's story is recounted in the Book of Genesis, where she resorted to deception to ensure the continuation of Judah's lineage after her husband's death. Despite the controversial nature of her actions, Tamar's inclusion in the genealogy of Jesus Christ highlights her importance in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tamarah dates back to the 17th century, but it is likely that variations of the name were used earlier. One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Tamarah was Tamarah Buckminster Kneeland (1670-1733), an American midwife and herbalist known for her expertise in obstetrics and natural remedies.
In the 19th century, Tamarah Mercer (1810-1887) was an American poet and writer who gained recognition for her work on Native American themes. Her poetry collection, "Legends of the Northwest," published in 1868, celebrated the traditions and folklore of indigenous communities in the Pacific Northwest.
Another notable figure was Tamarah Sheehan (1876-1946), an Irish-American labor activist and suffragette. She played a crucial role in the women's suffrage movement in the United States and advocated for the rights of working-class women and their families.
In the 20th century, Tamarah Holder (1918-2006) was a Trinidadian-American dancer and choreographer who gained fame for her innovative dance techniques and collaborations with renowned artists such as Duke Ellington and Alvin Ailey.
Tamarah Zaydan (born 1962) is a contemporary Palestinian-American author and academic known for her writings on Middle Eastern literature, culture, and politics. Her works explore themes of identity, displacement, and the experiences of Arab Americans.
While the name Tamarah has roots in Hebrew and Biblical tradition, it has transcended cultural boundaries and been embraced by various communities worldwide, reflecting its enduring appeal and the diverse tapestry of human experiences associated with it.
People
Tamarah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamarah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tamarah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamarah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,215 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamarah going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 282,102 US residents.
Is Tamarah a common name?
We classify Tamarah as "Rare". It ranks above 91.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,326 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamarah most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamarah was 1996, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamarah is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamarah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,277 people with the name Tamarah, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,442 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tamarah in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tamarah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamarah appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,275 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tamarah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamarah is White at 49.8%. The next largest groups are Black (34.1%) and Hispanic (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tamarah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamarah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.8% (636 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tamarah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamarah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamarah in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tamarah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamarah in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tamarah can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Tamarah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.