>>>>FWIW, my partners name is Tamar. Maybe because her father was half Georgian (where I believe it is common) or maybe because her mother lived near the Tamar (a river on the Devon/Cornwall border)
>>>
>>>Probably pronounced differently than I do, though. I'll bet she's "TAY-mahr," since that's how I'm told the river is pronounced. I pronounce it "tuh-MAHR," which is close to, but not quite, the Hebrew pronunciation.
>>
>>Your right - usually TaYmar but also TaMmar (as Mike thought). She answers to both (when she's listening :-} )
>>Actually, most often it's just 'Tam'
>
>Which would never work for me, because for me the "m" is definitely part of the second syllable. I've never actually had a shortened version of my name. My parents were very anti-nickname, so none of us were called by them.
>

Supposedly Dwight Eisenhower's parents named him Dwight David instead of David Dwight because they didn't want anyone calling him Dave.