Amilcar
Masculine · “brother of Melqart”
Amílcar is the Punic name Hamilcar, and it means brother of Melqart — the god of Tyre, whom Carthage brought with it from Phoenicia.
How old is the name Amilcar?
Amilcar first appears in US birth records in 1957 — 68 years ago. The typical Amilcar alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 900 people named Amilcar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amilcar most popular?
Amilcar peaked in 1991, reaching #2406 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 2,133 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Where it comes from
From Melqart to Amilcar
The story of Amilcar
Hamilcar Barca commanded Carthage in Sicily during the first Punic war and was the father of Hannibal — who, the tradition says, was made to swear eternal enmity to Rome as a child. The god in the name, Melqart, was identified by the Greeks with Heracles. Spanish and Portuguese give Amílcar, and it is used in Latin America and Portuguese-speaking Africa.
Meaning
brother of Melqart
From Punic Abd-Melqart or a related compound; Melqart was the chief god of Tyre and of its colony Carthage, and his name means king of the city. Greek and Latin rendered the name Hamilcar.
How the name formed
- Melqart
- Hamilcar
- Amílcar
Related forms: Amílcar · Amílcar · Hamilcar
Pronouncing Amilcar
ah-MEEL-kar
Three syllables with the stress in the middle; the accent marks it in Spanish.
Nicknames for Amilcar
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
- 1957
- Most boys named
- 200632 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2406reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%22 in 2025, from 22
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.
Amilcar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Amílcar in Spanish — same name
- Amílcar in Portuguese — same name
- Hamilcar in English — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Amilcars among us
people named Amilcar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Amilcar
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 Aristotle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Amilcar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Aristotle climbed just as high around 1973, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Aristotle's path sketches the road Amilcar is walking now.
Amilcar 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
Amilcar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amilcar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Punic meaning with a genuinely major historical bearer.
- One of very few names in use that is Phoenician at bottom.
- Every letter is sounded, so Spanish speakers read it correctly at once.
- The accent is dropped by American systems, which moves the stress.
- Seven letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
- It is unfamiliar in America and will be spelled out constantly.
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What they receive
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Amilcar
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amilcars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Amilcar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Amilcar in 2025?
- Amilcar ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amilcar?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Amilcar — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amilcar with classmates?
- Amilcar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amilcar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amilcar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amilcar and another name?
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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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