Amaru
Masculine · “serpent”
Amaru is given to both — 984 boys and 41 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Amaru is a serpent in Quechua — a mythical water-snake — and Túpac Amaru took the name for the last Inca ruler and then a rebellion.
How old is the name Amaru?
Amaru first appears in US birth records in 1996 — 29 years ago. The typical Amaru is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Amaru are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amaru most popular?
Amaru peaked in 2021, reaching #2253 nationally. Today it ranks #2390, 137 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From amaru to Amaru
The story of Amaru
The amaru is a serpent of Andean cosmology tied to water and the world below. Túpac Amaru was executed by the Spanish in Cusco in 1572; two centuries later José Gabriel Condorcanqui took the name Túpac Amaru II and led the largest indigenous rebellion in colonial South America. The name is in current American use.
Meaning
serpent, dragon
From the Quechua amaru, a large mythical serpent associated with water and the underworld. Túpac Amaru was the last Inca of Vilcabamba, executed in 1572, and Túpac Amaru II led an eighteenth-century rebellion taking his name. The Quechua is documented.
How the name formed
- amaru
- Amaru
Related forms: Amaru · Amaru
Pronouncing Amaru
ah-MAH-roo
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Quechua gives every vowel a full value.
Nicknames for Amaru
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1996
- Most boys named
- 202162 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2253reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −3.4%57 in 2025, from 59
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Amaru in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Amaru in Quechua — same name
- Amaru in Spanish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Florida, New York.
Amarus among us
people named Amaru are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 29,966 born in 2025 was named Amaru
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rasean test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Amaru's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rasean climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rasean's path sketches the road Amaru is walking now.
Amaru sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Amaru is headed
Amaru should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Amaru beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amaru in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the name carries the last Inca and a great rebellion is a first-rate history.
- The serpent meaning is concrete and mythologically rich.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- It reads as specifically Andean.
- Both historical bearers were executed.
- Amaru and Amari are close enough to confuse.
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What they receive
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Amaru
Masculine · #2390 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amarus are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Amaru are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Amaru in 2025?
- Amaru ranks #2390 among US boy names in 2025, with 57 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amaru?
- About 1 in every 29,966 US boys born in 2025 was named Amaru — 57 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amaru with classmates?
- Amaru will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amaru
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Quest#2390 · Jovanny#2390 · Ameen#2390 · Devante#2390 · Austyn#2390 · Deklan#2390 · Erwin#2390 · Blaize#2390
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amaru? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amaru and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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