Ammar
An Arabic name meaning "life" or "immortal".
Name Census estimates that about 2,883 living Americans carry the first name Ammar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ammar today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ammar births was 2015 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ammar. 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 Ammar with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ammar 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
2.9K
~ 1 in 118,888 Americans
Peak year
2015
135 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,505
Tracked since 1977
Census
Ammar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,309 people with the first name Ammar, which placed it at #4,364 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
#4,364
National first-name rank
People counted
4.3K
4,309 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ammar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ammar is White at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.6%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Ammar 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 Ammar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.6% · 2,351
- Asian and Pacific Islander28.6% · 1,231
- Black or African American10.2% · 439
- Two or more races5.0% · 217
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Popularity
Ammar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ammar from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,076 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ammar remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ammar 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 Ammar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ammars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Ammar, while Tennessee, Massachusetts, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 95 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ammar
The name Ammar is an Arabic name derived from the root word "aamara," which means "to flourish" or "to thrive." It is believed to have originated in the Arabian Peninsula during the pre-Islamic era, around the 6th century AD.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ammar can be found in Islamic literature, particularly in the Quran and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad). One of the most prominent figures bearing this name is Ammar ibn Yasir, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and one of the early converts to Islam. He lived from around 570 to 657 AD and is revered for his unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution.
Another notable figure in Islamic history with the name Ammar is Ammar al-Basri, a renowned scholar and theologian who lived from 636 to 738 AD. He made significant contributions to the development of Islamic jurisprudence and is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of the early Islamic era.
In the realm of literature, Ammar ibn Abi Rabiah was a renowned Arabic poet who lived during the 7th century AD. His poetry is celebrated for its eloquence and its exploration of love, nature, and the human condition.
Moving to more modern times, Ammar al-Shukri was an influential Iraqi writer and journalist who lived from 1919 to 1992. He played a pivotal role in the development of modern Arabic literature and was known for his advocacy of social and political reforms.
Ammar Abdulhamid is a contemporary Syrian activist and author, known for his work in promoting human rights and democracy in the Middle East. He has written extensively on issues related to civil society and political reform in the Arab world.
While the name Ammar has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world, transcending cultural and linguistic boundaries. Its meaning, which emphasizes growth and prosperity, has resonated with people from diverse backgrounds, making it a name with a rich history and enduring appeal.
People
Ammar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ammar 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
Ammar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ammar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,883 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ammar 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 118,888 US residents.
Is Ammar a common name?
We classify Ammar as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,922 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ammar most popular?
The single biggest year for Ammar was 2015, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ammar 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 Ammar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,309 people with the name Ammar, or 1.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,364 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 Ammar 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 Ammar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ammar appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,313 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Ammar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ammar is White at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (28.6%) and Black (10.2%). 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 Ammar most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ammar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.6% (2,351 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 Ammar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ammar a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ammar 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 Ammar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ammar 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 Ammar 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 named Ammar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.