Amaryllis
Feminine · “to sparkle”
Amaryllis is a shepherdess in Virgil, and the Greek behind her name means to sparkle — the flower was named for her, not the reverse.
How old is the name Amaryllis?
Amaryllis first appears in US birth records in 1926 — 99 years ago. The typical Amaryllis alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 1,600 people named Amaryllis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amaryllis most popular?
Amaryllis peaked in 1927, reaching #1139 nationally. Today it ranks #2438, 1,299 places below that high. See the whole 1927 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From amaryssein to Amaryllis
The story of Amaryllis
Amaryllis appears in Theocritus and then in Virgil's Eclogues as a country girl, and the name was a pastoral commonplace for centuries; Linnaeus took it for the flower in the eighteenth century. The Greek verb means to sparkle. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
to sparkle, to shine
From the Greek amaryssein, 'to sparkle' or 'to twinkle'. Theocritus and Virgil both give the name to a shepherdess in pastoral poetry, and Linnaeus named the flower after her. The Greek is documented and the naming order established.
How the name formed
- amaryssein
- Amaryllis
Related forms: Ἀμαρυλλίς · Amaryllis
Pronouncing Amaryllis
am-uh-RIL-iss
Four syllables, stress on the third. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Amaryllis
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
- 1926
- Most girls named
- 202373 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1139reached in 1927
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%73 in 2025, from 73
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.
Amaryllis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ἀμαρυλλίς in Greek — transliteration
- Amaryllis in Latin — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Amarylliss among us
people named Amaryllis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 22,017 born in 2025 was named Amaryllis
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Amaryllis
- #2438
- Amaryllis on the 2025 chart
- #879
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Amaryllis went to 73 girls in 2025, but Amarilis is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 81, which makes it the 879th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,559 places above the chart.
- Amaryllis73
- Amarilis8
About 1 girl in 19,843 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 22,017 for Amaryllis itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Lawrence test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Amaryllis's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lawrence climbed just as high around 1903, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lawrence's path sketches the road Amaryllis is walking now.
Amaryllis 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 Amaryllis is headed
Amaryllis should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Amaryllis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amaryllis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the flower is named for the shepherdess rather than the reverse is a first-rate fact.
- The sparkle meaning is transparent and lovely.
- Virgil and Theocritus both use it, which is real literary weight.
- Four syllables make it very long for everyday use.
- The flower is the dominant association.
- It will need spelling out every time.
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What they receive
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Amaryllis
Feminine · #2438 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amarylliss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Amaryllis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Amaryllis?
- Amaryllis is the most-used spelling in US records — 73 of the 81 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Amarilis.
- How popular is the name Amaryllis in 2025?
- Amaryllis ranks #2438 among US girl names in 2025, with 73 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amaryllis?
- About 1 in every 22,017 US girls born in 2025 was named Amaryllis — 73 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amaryllis with classmates?
- Amaryllis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amaryllis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Saniya#2438 · Rorie#2438 · Ellia#2438 · Tamar#2438 · Amaira#2438 · Zena#2438 · Mable#2438 · Geraldine#2438
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amaryllis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amaryllis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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