Given name & surname · also Vietnamese

Tam

“close to the heart”·“having heart”·“one who is truthful”

Tam is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “close to the heart”, “having heart”, and “one who is truthful”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.

Find names like Tam

Meaning & origin

What it means

Interpretations include “close to the heart”, “having heart”, and “one who is truthful”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.

Where it comes from

This spelling has been associated with Vietnamese and Hebrew naming traditions.

How it developed

In Scottish use, Tam is used as a shortened form of Thomas.

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1924. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In Scottish use, Tam is a short form of Thomas. The history of Thomas gives this family its wider story. Thomas was the name of one of Jesus’s twelve apostles, remembered in Christian tradition for his doubts and later reassurance. That story helped establish the name across Christian naming traditions.

Combines direct and name-family evidence

Tam through the years

Babies since 1880: 1,889; 987 boys · 902 girls
Most popular year: 1982; 64 babies
2025: 10; #13,669 for boys · #17,015 for girls
2021–25 vs 2016–20: −54%; Cooling

Boys Girls

Tam in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1924–2025, per million births of each sex. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,669 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 46 in 1982. It also appeared in 5 birth records for girls in 2025. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 12,308 as a first name in 2020; 13,232 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Tam’s family of names

In Scots usage, Tam is a diminutive of Thomas. In Greek usage, Tam as a surname is a transliteration of Ταμ. Tam is a short form of Thomas.

Walk Tam’s family in the name graph

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Around the world

Tam has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.

6 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.

Each dot marks where a language is rooted, not where people with the name live today. Bigger dots hold more names. Language locations from Glottolog (CC BY 4.0); map from Natural Earth.

Nicknames & forms 5

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 2

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 1

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Tomequivalent

People named Tam

Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.

Appears in

Similar names

If you love Tam, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Vietnamese · Shared

Sibling ideas

Names that share Tam’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Tam

A sister for Tam

Your shortlist

Tam