| Shira | Tamar | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | song | date palm |
| Origin | hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | SHEE-rah | tah-MAR |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1941 | 1915 |
| Peak year | 2009 (159) | 1977 (133) |
| In 2025 | 79 | 73 |
| Trend | Declining | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Shira | Tamar |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 430 | 416 |
| 2010s | 861 | 811 |
| 2000s | 1,324 | 917 |
| 1990s | 988 | 901 |
| 1980s | 1,182 | 1,103 |
| 1970s | 650 | 1,003 |
| 1960s | 224 | 606 |
| 1950s | 131 | 249 |
| 1940s | 25 | 96 |
| 1930s | 0 | 41 |
| 1920s | 0 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0 | 5 |
Modern Hebrew shira, 'song, singing, poetry' (root sh-y-r). A popular contemporary given name; a concrete noun with no theophoric element.
From Hebrew tamar, 'date palm.' Borne by several biblical women (Genesis 38; 2 Samuel 13). A concrete noun; the palm's associations of uprightness, grace and fruitfulness are connotation rather than part of the etymology.
Shira is more popular than Tamar today: about 79 US babies were given the name Shira in 2025, compared with 73 named Tamar.
Shira means song (hebrew origin), while Tamar means date palm (hebrew origin).
In US records, Shira first appears in 1941 and Tamar in 1915, so Tamar has the longer recorded history.