A thermal transfer recording material for use in a recording apparatus in which the thermal transfer recording material is introduced into a transfer section having a porous structure by an effect of capillarity, subjected to a state transformation such as vaporization or droplet formation by heating, and then transferred to a recording medium disposed opposed to the transfer section, comprising:a dye having a melting point of 115.degree. C. or lower and represented by the general formula (I): ##STR1## where A is a substituted or unsubstituted p-phenylene group, R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are individually a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl or alkenyl group, a cycloalkyl group or a substituted or unsubstituted phenyl group; and R.sup.1 may constitute a heterocyclic group composed of a five- or six-member ring in combination with said p-phenylene group A and a nitrogen atom adjacent to the p-phenytene group A, or another heterocyclic group composed of a five- or six-member ring in combination with R.sup.2 and the nitrogen atom adjacent to the p-phenylene group A.