Ameer
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "prince" or "leader".
Name Census estimates that about 6,270 living Americans carry the first name Ameer. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ameer today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ameer births was 2021 (287 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ameer. 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 Ameer with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ameer is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,666 Americans
Peak year
2021
287 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#928
Tracked since 1969
Census
Ameer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,966 people with the first name Ameer, which placed it at #3,934 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
#3,934
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,966 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ameer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ameer is White at 41.3%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.7%). 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 Ameer 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 Ameer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.3% · 2,049
- Black or African American34.4% · 1,706
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.7% · 582
- Two or more races6.8% · 339
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 271
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 19
Popularity
Ameer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ameer 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 2,436 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ameer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ameer 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 Ameer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ameers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ameer, while Oregon, Connecticut, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 164 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ameer
The name Ameer has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "amir," which means "commander" or "ruler." The name reflects the leadership and authority associated with those holding positions of power and influence.
In the early Islamic era, the title "Amir" was used to refer to military commanders, governors, and rulers of provinces or territories within the caliphate. The name Ameer gained prominence during this time as a reflection of the bearer's status and authority.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ameer can be found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The name is mentioned in reference to the leaders and commanders of the Islamic faith.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures bearing the name Ameer. One of the most renowned was Amir Khusrau (1253-1325 CE), a famous Persian poet and scholar who lived during the Delhi Sultanate in South Asia. His contribution to the development of Hindustani classical music and literature is widely celebrated.
Another prominent figure was Amir Timur (1336-1405 CE), also known as Tamerlane, a Turko-Mongol conqueror who established the Timurid Empire, stretching from modern-day Turkey to India. His military campaigns and conquests had a lasting impact on the region's history and culture.
In the Ottoman Empire, Amir Husayn Mirza (1456-1506 CE) was a renowned prince and calligrapher who played a significant role in the development of the Nasta'liq script, which became the dominant style of Persian calligraphy.
During the Mughal period in South Asia, Amir Khusrau Dehlavi (1597-1661 CE) was a celebrated Sufi poet and scholar known for his contributions to the development of Hindustani classical music and literature.
More recently, Amir Khan (born 1965 CE) is a renowned British actor and activist who has received numerous accolades for his work in films and his humanitarian efforts.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Ameer, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and association with leadership, authority, and artistic or scholarly achievements.
People
Ameer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ameer 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
Ameer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ameer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ameer 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 54,666 US residents.
Is Ameer a common name?
We classify Ameer as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,362 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ameer most popular?
The single biggest year for Ameer was 2021, when 287 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ameer is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ameer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,966 people with the name Ameer, or 1.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,934 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 Ameer 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 Ameer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ameer leans strongly male. 4,901 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 59 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Ameer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ameer is White at 41.3%. The next largest groups are Black (34.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.7%). 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 Ameer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ameer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.3% (2,049 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 Ameer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ameer a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ameer 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 Ameer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ameer 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 Ameer 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 common is the name Ameer?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.