Amaru
A name of Quechua origin meaning "serpent" or "snake".
Name Census estimates that about 946 living Americans carry the first name Amaru. It is a predominantly male name (97.0% of registrations). The average person named Amaru today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amaru births was 2021 (67 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amaru. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Amaru with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
946
~ 1 in 362,320 Americans
Peak year
2021
67 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,365
Tracked since 1996
Census
Amaru in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 598 people with the first name Amaru, which placed it at #18,116 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#18,116
National first-name rank
People counted
598
598 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amaru
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaru is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.8%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Amaru described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Amaru at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.8% · 274
- Hispanic or Latino37.8% · 226
- Two or more races8.7% · 52
- White3.7% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Amaru
Amaru leans heavily male at 97.0% of total registrations, but 29 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Amaru as a male name
- Ranked #2,365 in 2024
- 59 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (62 births)
Amaru as a female name
- Ranked #12,202 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amaru leans strongly male. 555 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 43 female bearers (7.2%).
Popularity
Amaru: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amaru from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 336 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amaru 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 Amaru during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amarus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Amaru, while Texas, Georgia, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amaru
The name Amaru has its origins in the Quechua language, spoken by the indigenous people of the Andes region of South America. It is believed to have been derived from the Quechua word "amaru," which means "serpent" or "snake." The name has been in use for centuries, dating back to the time of the Inca Empire.
In Inca mythology, the amaru was a powerful and revered creature, often associated with water, fertility, and the underworld. It was believed to be a protector of crops and a bringer of rain. The name Amaru was likely given to children as a way to invoke the protection and blessings of this mythical serpent.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Amaru can be found in the chronicles of the Spanish conquistadors who encountered the Inca Empire in the 16th century. The Spanish chronicler Pedro Cieza de León mentioned an Inca ruler named Amaru Tupac in his writings from the 1550s.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Amaru. One of the most famous was Túpac Amaru II (1742-1781), a indigenous Peruvian leader who led a rebellion against Spanish colonial rule in the late 18th century. His full name, José Gabriel Condorcanqui Noguera Valera Tupac Amaru, reflects his Inca heritage.
Another notable figure was Amaru Cholango (c. 1870-1930), an indigenous Ecuadorian leader and activist who fought for the rights of indigenous people in Ecuador during the early 20th century. He was known for his efforts to preserve indigenous culture and traditions.
In the realm of literature, Amaru Barahona (1928-2019) was a renowned Peruvian poet and essayist. He was awarded the prestigious Cervantes Prize, considered the highest honor in Spanish-language literature, in 2009.
Amaru Maximilliano Torbidoni (1886-1947) was an Argentine painter and illustrator who was known for his works depicting scenes from indigenous life in South America. His paintings are considered an important part of the artistic heritage of Argentina.
Finally, Amaru Arguedas (1901-1969) was a Peruvian writer and anthropologist who was deeply influenced by the indigenous cultures of the Andes. He is best known for his novel "Los ríos profundos" (Deep Rivers), which explores themes of cultural identity and the clash between indigenous and European traditions.
People
Amaru + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amaru 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
Amaru: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amaru?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 946 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amaru 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 362,320 US residents.
Is Amaru a common name?
We classify Amaru as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 955 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amaru most popular?
The single biggest year for Amaru was 2021, when 67 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amaru is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Amaru in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 598 people with the name Amaru, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,116 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Amaru in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Amaru?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amaru leans strongly male. 555 people counted with this name were male (92.8%), compared with 43 female bearers (7.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Amaru?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amaru is Black at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.8%) and Two or More Races (8.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Amaru most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Amaru in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (274 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Amaru in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amaru a male name?
Yes, 97.0% of people registered as Amaru 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.
Is Amaru still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amaru in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Amaru can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Amaru?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.