Tama, of Japanese origin, is a unisex given name that means 'jewel' or 'precious stone'. It's composed of two kanji characters: 玉 (tama), meaning 'jewel', and 魂 (hami), translating to 'soul' or 'spirit'. Thus, Tama can be interpreted as 'a jewel-like spirit'. This name gained popularity in Japan during the late 20th century and has since been embraced globally. It's often associated with simplicity, elegance, and uniqueness.
The name Tama experienced significant fluctuations in popularity over the years. From just a handful of births annually up until the mid-1940s, it suddenly surged to as high as 97 births in 1959 and peaked at 91 births in 1958. However, by the late 1960s, popularity began to decline steadily, with fewer than 30 births recorded per year from 1969 onwards. Since then, Tama has remained relatively uncommon, with less than ten births per year occurring regularly from the early 1970s until the most recent data available in 2006, totaling to 5 births each year.