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[Facts] Tamara
This is my name, and I am 73. I was told my mother found it in a magazine. (She died when I was nine, so I didn't get her confirmation on that.) When I was born in 1940 not many people in US had heard of this name, and I had to spell it most of the time and repeat it, to correct people who thought I was "Mary" or "Mara" or such (and I had bright red hair so they sometimes switched it to "Tomato"). The name became more popular beginning in the 1970s with the appearance of Tamara Dobson and has now been adopted by many black Americans. It is Russian in origin. I wrote an article about it that was published in Today's Chicago Woman. (And by the way, many people preferred to call me "Tammy" because they found Tamara difficult to remember and pronounce, but I never enjoyed being called "Tammy" simply because it was not my actual name.)

This message was edited 7/15/2014, 6:08 PM

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How do you pronounce your name? Tamara as it is usually said today (TAM-ruh or TAM-uh-ruh) would not likely be misheard as Mary or Mara. Do you say tuh-MARE-uh?
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In the US, at least in most regions I have lived in a visited, its pronounced the latter way "Tuh-MARE-uh." Tamara Mowry is a celebrity with the name pronounced in that way, but she was born in Germany to American parents.
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Interesting...maybe there are regional variations. My husband and I between us thought of four Tamaras we've known in Southern California over the years, and they were all TAM-ra. Never heard of a tuh-MARE-uh.

This message was edited 7/20/2014, 5:20 PM

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I have also heard Tam-ruh, but I believe its a more European pronunciation. I think its sort of like Tara pronounced the Gone With the Wind (Tarr-uh) way and Tara pronounced as Tare-uh. The former is definitely more Irish-European while the latter has an American flair.
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I've known an English and a German Tamara and they both pronounced it tə MAHR ə (yup, a bit like tə MAH toe). This is the only pronunciation I've ever come across.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erEsHVciJSoYou can hear it being said here. Some people say "Tuh-meer-uh" as well.

This message was edited 7/26/2014, 4:17 AM

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