Comments for the name Tamika

It is unlikely that Tamika has anything to do with "tamu". It is more likely just an African-American variation of Tamiko. If you check the SSA data you will see that in 1968, the first year both Tamiko and Tamika are among the top 1000, there were more Tamikos born than Tamikas. The name was probably introduced to the United States by the 1963 film _A Girl Named Tamiko_. This film, though about a Japanese woman falling in love with a White American man, was in many ways an anti-racism story. This appealed to African-Americans back in the 1960s, and some of them who saw the movie named daughters Tamiko because of it. The very title of the film of course would encourage this. In American accents, though, Tamiko easily can be mistaken for "Tamika", and since -a is a much more common ending for feminine names in English than -o is, African-American parents who heard the name outside of its film context assumed that "Tamika" was how it should be spelled.
[noted -ed]

Since I wrote the above comment I've discovered that the name Tamiko was transmitted into the African-American community through a singer called Tamiko Jones who was popular just after the movie _A Girl Named Tamiko_ came out. She may well have adopted her name from the film, as her birth name was Barbara Ferguson. But this actually reinforces the idea that Tamika is really just an Americanized version of Tamiko.
(http://soulfuldetroit.com/web07-golden%20world/golden%20world%20story/45-gw-tamiko-jones.htm)
[also noted -ed]

I automatically think of tapioca for some reason.

This name is so ghetto. I'm sorry. There are a trillion people who have the name Tamika at my school and they're all GHETTO!

I disagree with the above user. The name Tamika was very popular in the 70's and although it is considered outdated, I still think it has a pretty sound to it. I know a Tamika who is a very pretty and pleasant young lady. Just because it's used mostly by African Americans doesn't automatically make it ghetto.

My name is Tamika, and I think that it is a really nice name not because it's my name or anything. I live in Africa and it's a really unique name and is only given to children of a tribe called the Tumbukas. 1 in every 10 girls are called Tamika in Zambia. In my language it means "to thank the Lord for something spaecial you did not expect to get".

Tamika means "nation" in Japanese language.

Tamika Chesser (b. 1990) was a contestant in series 2 of the Australian version of "Beauty and the Geek". She is a bikini model and beauty therapist from Queensland.