How common is the surname Amos?

23,621 people in the United States had the surname Amos in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,071 Americans. It ranked 1,517th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Amos?

Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter (born 1963), followed by John Amos.

Where is the surname Amos most common?

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

How do you pronounce Amos?

Amos is /ˈeɪ.məs/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Amos getting more or less common?

More common. 22,817 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,621 in 2010, up 3.5%.

Is Amos also a first name?

Yes. Amos 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 Amos

A surname, carried by 23,621 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈeɪ.məs/ 2 syllables Soundex A520 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). Amos is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

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

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 23,621 people named Amos in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,071 Americans. That is up 3.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 22,817.

#1,517

rank among US surnames

23,621

people in 2010

8.0

per 100,000 Americans

+3.5%

change since 2000 (was #1,436)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,508	Benavides	23,761	12,994
#1,509	Bullard	23,755	12,997
#1,510	Louis	23,738	13,006
#1,511	Steiner	23,735	13,008
#1,512	Coates	23,725	13,014
#1,513	Drew	23,722	13,015
#1,514	Bowles	23,713	13,020

Who is named Amos

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

63% of people named Amos identified as white (not Hispanic), 29% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Amoss

8 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Tori Amos
American singer-songwriter (born 1963)
John Amos
American actor (1939–2024)
Nijel Amos
Botswana middle distance runner, born 1994
Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos
British diplomat (born 1954)
Emma Amos
African American artist (1938-2020)
James F. Amos
35th Commandant of the Marine Corps, born 1946
Evan Amos
American photographer, born 1983
Wally Amos
American television personality, entrepreneur, and author (1936–2024)

Notable Amoss come mostly from the United States (6), Botswana (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Amos

Amos has the Soundex code A520, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code A520.

Questions

Where does the surname Amos come from?: From Biblical Hebrew עמוס (Amos, “to carry; a burden”).
How common is the surname Amos?: 23,621 people in the United States had the surname Amos in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,071 Americans. It ranked 1,517th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Amos?: In the 2010 Census, 63% of people named Amos identified as white (not Hispanic), and 29% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Amos?: Tori Amos, American singer-songwriter (born 1963), followed by John Amos.
Where is the surname Amos most common?: Wikidata records people named Amos in the United States, Botswana and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Amos?: Amos is /ˈeɪ.məs/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Amos getting more or less common?: More common. 22,817 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 23,621 in 2010, up 3.5%.
Is Amos also a first name?: Yes. Amos 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.