Tamla
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Egyptian, meaning "palm tree branch."
Name Census estimates that about 312 living Americans carry the first name Tamla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tamla today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tamla births was 1971 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tamla. 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.
People living today
312
~ 1 in 1,098,572 Americans
Peak year
1971
48 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1985 SSA rank
#10,548
Tracked since 1958
Popularity
Tamla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tamla from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 192 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tamla 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 Tamla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tamlas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Louisiana, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Tamla, while Texas, Ohio, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tamla
The name Tamla is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the word "tamar," which means "date palm" or "date fruit." This name was likely first used in regions where Arabic was spoken, such as the Middle East and North Africa.
Tamla is a variation of the more common Arabic name Tamar. The earliest recorded use of the name Tamar can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible, where it was the name of a daughter-in-law of Judah. In the biblical story, Tamar played a significant role in ensuring the continuity of Judah's lineage.
During the medieval period, the name Tamla was relatively uncommon. However, it gained some popularity in certain parts of the Middle East and North Africa. One notable historical figure with this name was Tamla al-Zahra, a 10th-century Tunisian poet and scholar who was renowned for her contributions to Arabic literature.
In the 16th century, Tamla became more widely used in some regions of the Ottoman Empire. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Tamla Hatun, a Turkish noblewoman who lived during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent in the 1500s.
Another notable bearer of the name Tamla was Tamla al-Baghdadi, an Iraqi calligrapher and artist who lived in the 18th century. Her exquisite calligraphic works were highly acclaimed and can still be found in various collections around the world.
In more recent history, the name Tamla gained popularity in the United States in the 20th century, particularly among African American communities. This can be attributed, in part, to the success of the Motown record label, which was originally called Tamla Records when it was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in 1959.
People
Tamla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tamla 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
Tamla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tamla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 312 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tamla 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 1,098,572 US residents.
Is Tamla a common name?
We classify Tamla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 358 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tamla most popular?
The single biggest year for Tamla was 1971, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tamla is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tamla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tamla 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.
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.