Toumanova was of partial Georgian, Armenian and Polish descent. Singer Lyudmila Lopato, who personally knew Toumanova, wrote that "Tamara was of Armenian-Polish descent, not a Georgian Princess, as many people think". Tamara herself highlighted her Georgian heritage on many occasions – "I think he saw kinship with me, with my tristesse, with my being part Georgian."; "My mother, Evgeniya Toumanova, was a Georgian, a Chkheidze by birth, from Tbilisi. Sometimes she used to speak Georgian to me."; etc. This is further confirmed by her family's official documents in Georgia and the Russian Empire, including that of her uncle (mother's brother) Prince Zachary Dmitrievich Tumanov, whose ethnicity is stated as "Georgian". Tamara's parents were deeply religious. Tamara, her mother and her maternal grandmother, Princess Elizabeth Chkhedize, were Georgian/Russian Orthodox, while Toumanova's maternal grandfather Prince Dmitry Toumanov was a follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church.