Tamera
An English feminine name possibly derived from the Arabic name "Tamr" meaning "date palm".
Name Census estimates that about 12,422 living Americans carry the first name Tamera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamera today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamera births was 1959 (614 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamera. 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 Tamera with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 27,593 Americans
Peak year
1959
614 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,532
Tracked since 1940
Census
Tamera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,177 people with the first name Tamera, which placed it at #2,063 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
#2,063
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tamera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamera is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (22.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Tamera 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 Tamera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.0% · 9,095
- Black or African American22.9% · 3,022
- Two or more races4.1% · 536
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 276
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 187
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 61
Popularity
Tamera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamera from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 5,260 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamera 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 Tamera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tameras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Tamera, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 245 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamera
Tamera is a feminine given name derived from the Greek word "tamias," meaning "housekeeper" or "steward." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a title for those responsible for managing household affairs and finances.
The earliest recorded use of the name Tamera dates back to the 5th century BCE, when it appeared in ancient Greek texts and inscriptions. It gained popularity during the Hellenistic period and was sometimes associated with the goddess Hestia, the protector of the hearth and home.
In the Middle Ages, the name Tamera spread to other parts of Europe, particularly in Italy, where it was sometimes spelled as "Tamara." During the Renaissance period, it was used by several notable figures, including Tamera Buonacorsi (1411-1494), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts.
The name Tamera also has a connection to the Christian tradition. In the 4th century CE, there was a Saint Tamera who was a martyr in Antioch. Her feast day is celebrated on August 26th in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Over the centuries, several prominent individuals have borne the name Tamera. One of the earliest was Tamera of Normandy (c. 1060-1100), a countess and one of the most powerful women in medieval Europe. Another notable figure was Tamera of Bavaria (1451-1501), a German princess and duchess.
In the modern era, Tamera has been the name of several famous actresses and singers, including Tamera Mowry-Housley (born 1978), an American actress known for her role in the sitcom "Sister, Sister," and Tamera Foster (born 1973), a British singer and former member of the pop group Quintessence.
Other notable individuals named Tamera include Tamera Alexander (born 1957), an American author of historical fiction, and Tamera Green (born 1970), an American basketball player who won two Olympic gold medals with the United States women's national basketball team.
People
Tamera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamera 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
Tamera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,422 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamera 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 27,593 US residents.
Is Tamera a common name?
We classify Tamera as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,263 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamera most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamera was 1959, when 614 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamera is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tamera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,177 people with the name Tamera, or 4.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,063 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 Tamera 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 Tamera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tamera appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,181 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 Tamera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tamera is White at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Black (22.9%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Tamera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tamera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (9,095 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 Tamera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tamera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamera 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 Tamera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tamera 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 Tamera 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 Tamera as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.