| Tamar | Shifra | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | date palm | Beautiful |
| Origin | hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | tah-MAR | SHIF-rah |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1915 | 0 |
| Peak year | 1977 (133) | 2025 (68) |
| In 2025 | 73 | 0 |
| Trend | Steady | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Tamar | Shifra |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 416 | 291 |
| 2010s | 811 | 425 |
| 2000s | 917 | 361 |
| 1990s | 901 | 248 |
| 1980s | 1,103 | 207 |
| 1970s | 1,003 | 123 |
| 1960s | 606 | 33 |
| 1950s | 249 | 17 |
| 1940s | 96 | 5 |
| 1930s | 41 | 5 |
| 1920s | 10 | 0 |
| 1910s | 5 | 0 |
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.
From Hebrew Shifrah, from the root sh-p-r meaning 'to be beautiful/fair, to please'. Borne by one of the midwives in Exodus; traditionally glossed 'beautiful'.
Tamar is more popular than Shifra today: about 73 US babies were given the name Tamar in 2025, compared with 0 named Shifra.
Tamar means date palm (hebrew origin), while Shifra means Beautiful (hebrew origin).
In US records, Tamar first appears in 1915 and Shifra in 0, so Shifra has the longer recorded history.