[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.
[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.
[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.
[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.