Amar
An Indian masculine name meaning "immortal" or "eternal".
Name Census estimates that about 5,093 living Americans carry the first name Amar. It is a predominantly male name (93.7% of registrations). The average person named Amar today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amar births was 2023 (195 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amar. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
5.1K
~ 1 in 67,299 Americans
Peak year
2023
195 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,239
Tracked since 1967
Gender
Gender distribution for Amar
Amar leans heavily male at 93.7% of total registrations, but 328 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Amar as a male name
- Ranked #1,239 in 2024
- 160 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (177 births)
Amar as a female name
- Ranked #6,928 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (24 births)
Popularity
Amar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amar from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,608 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Amar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amar by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Amar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Amar, while Wisconsin, Mississippi, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 110 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amar
The name Amar has its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan tongue that dates back to the 2nd millennium BC and was widely used in the Indian subcontinent. Amar is derived from the Sanskrit word "amara," which means "immortal" or "eternal." It is a name steeped in the rich cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent and has been used for centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the name Amar can be found in Hindu mythology, where it is mentioned in the sacred texts known as the Puranas. In these ancient scriptures, Amar is associated with the concept of immortality and is often used to describe deities or other celestial beings. The name also appears in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India, which dates back to around the 8th century BC.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Amar. One of the earliest recorded examples is Amar Singh Rathore, a 16th-century Rajput warrior and nobleman from the Indian state of Rajasthan. He was known for his bravery and military exploits during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Another prominent figure with the name Amar was Amar Singh Thapa, a Nepalese military commander who lived from 1776 to 1816. He played a crucial role in the unification of Nepal and is celebrated as a national hero for his contributions to the country's independence and territorial integrity.
In the realm of literature, Amar Mitra was a renowned Bengali poet and writer who lived from 1903 to 1937. He was a leading figure in the Bengali literary renaissance and is best known for his collection of poems titled "Nirjharini," which explored themes of love, nature, and spirituality.
Another notable figure with the name Amar was Amar Singh Choudhary, an Indian freedom fighter and activist who lived from 1916 to 1985. He was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress and played an active role in the struggle for India's independence from British rule.
More recently, Amar Bhushan Nath was an Indian classical vocalist and composer who lived from 1938 to 2002. He was renowned for his mastery of the Hindustani classical music tradition and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, two of India's highest civilian honors, for his contributions to the field of music.
People
Amar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Amar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,093 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amar going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 67,299 US residents.
Is Amar a common name?
We classify Amar as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,184 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amar most popular?
The single biggest year for Amar was 2023, when 195 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amar is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Amar a male name?
Yes, 93.7% of people registered as Amar in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.