Amos
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “Carried”
Amos is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 36,536 boys against 64 girls since 1880.
Amos is one of the shortest books in the Hebrew Bible and one of the oldest names still handed to babies in English. It comes out of the mouth in two clean beats, a long open vowel and a soft landing, with nothing in it that needs explaining twice. English speakers have been using it without interruption since the Puritans went looking for names in the Old Testament.
How old is the name Amos?
Amos was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Amos alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 19,000 people named Amos are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amos most popular?
Amos peaked in 1880, reaching #105 nationally. Today it ranks #730, 625 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From ʿAmos (Hebrew) to Amos
The story of Amos
Amos is Hebrew, עָמוֹס, and belongs first to the prophet whose short book sits among the Twelve in the Hebrew Bible — a herdsman from Tekoa who spoke in the eighth century BCE. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures wrote it Amōs, Latin kept it as Amos, and the spelling has not moved since. English speakers took it up in earnest during the Reformation, when Protestant families began drawing given names straight from the Old Testament rather than the calendar of saints, and it crossed the Atlantic with them. It has stayed in American use ever since, never crowding the classroom, never disappearing either.
Meaning
Carried, borne — from the Hebrew verb ʿamas, to lift or carry a load
The sense is usually read as 'carried' or 'borne up', often understood in the tradition as borne by God.
How the name formed
- ʿAmosHebrew
- AmōsGreek
- AmosLatin
- AmosEnglish
Related forms: עָמוֹס (Amos) · Amós · Amós · Αμώς (Amōs) · Amos · Amos
Pronouncing Amos
AY-muhs
Stress on the first syllable in English. In Hebrew the stress falls the other way, ah-MOSS, which is how you will hear it in Israel.
Nicknames for Amos
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1921546 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #105reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- −19.1%364 in 2025, from 450
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.
Amos in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- עָמוֹס (Amos) in Hebrew — transliteration
- Amós in Spanish — spelling variant
- Amós in Portuguese — spelling variant
- Αμώς (Amōs) in Greek — transliteration
- Amos in Italian — same name
- Amos in French — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Pennsylvania, Texas, California.
Amoss among us
people named Amos are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,693 born in 2025 was named Amos
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Amos 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 Amos is headed
Amos 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.
Amos beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amos in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds, and spelled the same in English, Italian, French and Hebrew transliteration — little correcting required.
- A continuous written record going back to the eighth century BCE, with the spelling essentially unchanged since Latin.
- Short enough to need no nickname, which means the child, not the playground, decides whether one exists.
- Familiar to almost everyone through the biblical book, while still rare enough that a class is unlikely to hold two.
- The radio and television series Amos 'n' Andy, with its blackface origins, carried the name through much of the twentieth century. The association has faded considerably, but older Americans may still catch it.
- Famous Amos cookies are on most supermarket shelves, and children are good at spotting that sort of thing.
- It reads as distinctly Old Testament — that is the whole appeal for many families, and a mismatch for others. It also remains strongly represented among older generations, so expect it to sound like a grandfather's name to some ears and a fresh one to others.
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What they receive
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Amos
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #730 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amoss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 19,000 people named Amos are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Amos in 2025?
- Amos ranks #730 among US boy names in 2025, with 364 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amos?
- About 1 in every 4,693 US boys born in 2025 was named Amos — 364 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amos with classmates?
- Amos will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amos
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marcel#730 · Hugh#732 · Ander#728 · Dustin#728 · Misael#733 · Case#733 · Jahmir#725 · Ambrose#735
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amos? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amos and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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