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