How common is the surname Amar?

1,797 people in the United States had the surname Amar in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 171,812 Americans. It ranked 16,108th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Amar?

In the 2010 Census, 54% of people named Amar identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

Who is the most famous person named Amar?

Ahmed Amar, association football player, followed by Leonora Amar.

Where is the surname Amar most common?

Wikidata records people named Amar in Algeria and Brazil.

How do you pronounce Amar?

Amar is /ˈɑ.mɑɹ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Amar getting more or less common?

More common. 1,286 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,797 in 2010, up 40%.

Is Amar also a first name?

Yes. Amar is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Amar

A Sanskrit surname, carried by 1,797 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɑ.mɑɹ/ 2 syllables Soundex A560 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Amar is more common than 90.1% of them.

Origin

Sanskrit origin

Borrowed from Sanskrit अमर (amara, “undying, immortal, imperishable”).

One of 24 Sanskrit surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,797 people named Amar in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 171,812 Americans. That is up 40% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,286.

#16,108

rank among US surnames

1,797

people in 2010

0.6

per 100,000 Americans

+39.7%

change since 2000 (was #19,445)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#16,100	Coughlan	1,798	171,716
#16,108	Parshall	1,797	171,812

Who is named Amar

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

54% of people named Amar identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Asian and Pacific Islander and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).

White (not Hispanic) 54%
Asian and Pacific Islander 16%
Black (not Hispanic) 14%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 12%
Two or more races 2.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Amars

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ahmed Amar
Association football player, 1951–2026
Leonora Amar
Brazilian film actress, 1925–2014

Notable Amars come mostly from Algeria (1) and Brazil (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Amar

Amar has the Soundex code A560, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A560.

Other Sanskrit surnames

All 24 Sanskrit surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Amar come from?: Borrowed from Sanskrit अमर (amara, “undying, immortal, imperishable”).
How common is the surname Amar?: 1,797 people in the United States had the surname Amar in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 171,812 Americans. It ranked 16,108th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Amar?: In the 2010 Census, 54% of people named Amar identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Asian and Pacific Islander.
Who is the most famous person named Amar?: Ahmed Amar, association football player, followed by Leonora Amar.
Where is the surname Amar most common?: Wikidata records people named Amar in Algeria and Brazil.
How do you pronounce Amar?: Amar is /ˈɑ.mɑɹ/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Amar getting more or less common?: More common. 1,286 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 1,797 in 2010, up 40%.
Is Amar also a first name?: Yes. Amar is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.