A Tatar personal name, being strongly influenced by Russian tradition, consists of two main elements: isem (given name) and familia (family name), and also patronymic. Given name was traditional for Tatars for centuries, family name appeared in the end of 19th century, when it replaced patronymic. In fact, usage of family name appeared when Russian scribers gave documents to Tatars. Later, being adapted to Soviet tradition, Tatars started to use patronymic as third element, especially in informal communication.

As in Western cultures, a person has a first name chosen by his or her parents. The first name is used before the last name (surname) in most cases and is given so into the main European languages. For usage in other cases see: Names in Russian Empire, Soviet Union and CIS countries.

For Tatars living or born in Russia, every Tatar name has a transliteration in Russian language, due Tatarstan citizens use passports where their names are written in both official languages, Tatar and Russian. Russian version of Tatar name could significantly differ from original Tatar pronunciation, it also could be transliterated into different ways. So, English spelling depends on language from which text is translated. This situations isn't common for all non-Slavic peoples of Russia. Chuvashes and Keräşen Tatars, for example, use Russian (Orthodox Christian) names as official, but they also has their own renderings, that they use as informal.