Amory
A masculine given name derived from the Old French name Amorie, meaning "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 1,229 living Americans carry the first name Amory. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 51.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Amory today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amory births was 2020 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amory. 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 Amory with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Amory sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 278,889 Americans
Peak year
2020
71 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,422
Tracked since 1915
Census
Amory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,028 people with the first name Amory, which placed it at #12,197 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
#12,197
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,028 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amory is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) and Hispanic (14.7%). 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 Amory 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 Amory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.9% · 564
- Black or African American18.2% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino14.7% · 151
- Two or more races6.0% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 53
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Amory
Amory is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,290 total registrations, 668 (51.8%) were male and 622 (48.2%) were female.
Amory as a male name
- Ranked #4,422 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (39 births)
Amory as a female name
- Ranked #7,969 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (33 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Amory on both sides of the split. Of the 1,020 people counted with this name, 491 were male (48.1%) and 529 were female (51.9%).
Popularity
Amory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amory from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 395 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Amory remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amory 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 Amory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amorys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Amory, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amory
The given name Amory has its origins in the French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "aimerie," which means "beloved" or "loved one." The name likely evolved from the Latin root "amare," meaning "to love."
During the medieval period, the name Amory was particularly popular in France and other parts of Europe influenced by French culture. It was often bestowed upon children as a symbol of affection and the hope for a loving and cherished life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Amory can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "Roman de la Rose." In this literary work, a character named Amory represents the allegorical figure of love and devotion.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Amory. Among them is Amory de Montfort (1241-1287), a French nobleman and military leader who fought in the Eighth Crusade. Another historical figure is Amory Loring (1619-1672), an English colonist in Massachusetts and a prominent landowner in the early days of the American colonies.
In the realm of literature, Amory Blaine is the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's semi-autobiographical novel "This Side of Paradise," published in 1920. Fitzgerald's depiction of Amory as a young, introspective, and ambitious Princeton student drew inspiration from his own experiences.
Another notable bearer of the name was Amory Lovins (born 1947), an American physicist, environmentalist, and author known for his work on energy policy and sustainability. His influential book "Soft Energy Paths" (1976) advocated for a transition towards renewable and efficient energy sources.
In the field of music, Amory Kane (1904-1981) was an American composer and pianist who collaborated with notable artists such as Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway during the Harlem Renaissance era.
While the name Amory has its roots in the French language and medieval Europe, it has transcended cultural boundaries and has been adopted in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, as a testament to its enduring appeal and connection to themes of love and affection.
People
Amory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amory 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
Amory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amory 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 278,889 US residents.
Is Amory a common name?
We classify Amory as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amory most popular?
The single biggest year for Amory was 2020, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amory is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Amory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,028 people with the name Amory, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,197 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 Amory 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 Amory?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Amory on both sides of the split. Of the 1,020 people counted with this name, 491 were male (48.1%) and 529 were female (51.9%). 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 Amory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amory is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (18.2%) and Hispanic (14.7%). 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 Amory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Amory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (564 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 Amory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amory a male name?
Yes, 51.8% of people registered as Amory 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 Amory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amory 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 Amory 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 Amory?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.