# Amos (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/amos/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 23,621 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,517 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,071 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.5% (22,817 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪ.məs/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Biblical Hebrew עמוס (Amos, “to carry; a burden”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Amos in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 63% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 29% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.7% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.9% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.1% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Amos in the United States, Botswana and the United Kingdom.

## People named Amos

- Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter (born 1963)
- John Amos, American actor (1939–2024)
- Nijel Amos, Botswana middle distance runner
- Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos, British diplomat (born 1954)
- Emma Amos, African American artist (1938-2020)
- James F. Amos, 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps
- Evan Amos, American photographer
- Wally Amos, American television personality, entrepreneur, and author (1936–2024)

## Similar surnames

Ames, Amis, Amezcua, Amick, Annis, Ang, Amico, Aung, Auyeung, Ange, Amescua.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.