Tamar (given name)

Tamar ({{langx|he|תָּמָר}}) is a female given name of Hebrew origin, meaning "date" (the fruit), "date palm" or just "palm tree". In the Bible, Tamar refers to two women: one is Tamar the daughter-in-law of Judah, and the other is Tamar the daughter of King David and full sister of Absalom. The latter was raped by her half-brother Amnon, leading Absalom to eventually kill him. Absalom named his daughter Tamar, described as a woman of great beauty.{{Cite book |last=Hanks |first=Patrick |url=http://archive.org/details/dictionaryoffirs0000hank_l4f5 |title=A dictionary of first names |date=2006 |location=Oxford; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1}} For a period, Tamar held the top spot for girls' names in Israel, but it dropped to second in 2022.{{Cite web |last=Zaltzman |first=Lior |date=19 September 2023 |title=The 20 Most Popular Jewish Baby Names in Israel |url=https://www.kveller.com/the-20-most-popular-jewish-baby-names-in-israel/ |access-date=29 April 2024 |website=Kveller |language=en}}{{Cite web |author=Toi Staff |date=6 October 2016 |title=Israel's top baby names are Muhammad, Tamar |website=The Times of Israel |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-top-baby-names-are-muhammad-and-tamar/}}

Tamar was also among the Biblical names used by Puritans in the American Colonial Era in the 17th and 18th centuries. Puritan families sometimes used names of Biblical characters seen as sinful as a reminder of man's fallen state.Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley, [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/39284/39284-h/39284-h.htm Curiosities of Puritan Nomenclature]