Ambar
An Arabic feminine name meaning "amber" or "ambergris".
Name Census estimates that about 2,846 living Americans carry the first name Ambar. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ambar today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ambar births was 2024 (122 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ambar. 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 Ambar with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 120,434 Americans
Peak year
2024
122 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
1980 SSA rank
#1,670
Tracked since 1979
Census
Ambar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,371 people with the first name Ambar, which placed it at #5,180 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
#5,180
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,371 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ambar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ambar is Hispanic at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.2%) and White (3.1%). 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 Ambar 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 Ambar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.9% · 2,998
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.2% · 210
- White3.1% · 103
- Black or African American1.2% · 39
- Two or more races0.5% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Ambar
Out of the 2,921 babies given the name Ambar since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ambar as a male name
- Ranked #6,289 in 1980
- 5 male births in 1980
- Peak: 1980 (5 births)
Ambar as a female name
- Ranked #1,670 in 2024
- 122 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (122 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ambar leans strongly female. 3,233 people counted with this name were female (96.1%), compared with 130 male bearers (3.9%).
Popularity
Ambar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ambar from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 694 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Ambar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ambar 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 Ambar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ambars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ambar, while Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 225 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ambar
The name Ambar is derived from the Sanskrit word "ambara," which means "sky" or "atmosphere." It is believed to have originated in ancient Indian culture, where it was used as a name for both boys and girls.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Ambar can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Puranas, where it was often associated with the celestial realm and the deities that governed it. It was a popular name among the Hindu communities of the Indian subcontinent.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Ambar was Ambar Khan, a powerful military commander and courtier who served under the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the 16th century. He played a significant role in the expansion and consolidation of the Mughal Empire.
Another notable figure was Ambar Jaykar, an Indian social reformer and educator who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a pioneer in promoting education for women and working towards the upliftment of the underprivileged sections of society.
In the field of arts and literature, Ambar Chatterjee was a renowned Bengali poet and writer who lived during the 20th century. His works explored themes of love, nature, and social issues, and he was awarded several prestigious literary honors.
Moving to the realm of sports, Ambar Anand was an Indian field hockey player who represented India in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. He was part of the Indian team that won the gold medal in field hockey at those Games.
Lastly, Ambar Tsering was a prominent Tibetan writer and activist who played a significant role in preserving and promoting Tibetan culture and language. He authored several books and works focused on Tibetan history, literature, and the struggle for Tibetan independence.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Ambar, reflecting its diverse cultural and geographical roots, as well as its significance across various domains of human endeavor.
People
Ambar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ambar 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
Ambar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ambar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,846 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ambar 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 120,434 US residents.
Is Ambar a common name?
We classify Ambar as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,921 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ambar most popular?
The single biggest year for Ambar was 2024, when 122 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ambar is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ambar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,371 people with the name Ambar, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,180 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 Ambar 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 Ambar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ambar leans strongly female. 3,233 people counted with this name were female (96.1%), compared with 130 male bearers (3.9%). 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 Ambar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ambar is Hispanic at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (6.2%) and White (3.1%). 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 Ambar most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ambar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (2,998 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 Ambar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ambar a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Ambar in the SSA data are female. 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 Ambar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ambar 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 Ambar 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 Ambar?
You can see how many people have the name Ambar on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.