Amr
Masculine · “life”
Amr is one of the oldest Arabic names still in daily use, and one of the strangest to write: classical Arabic spells it with a silent letter at the end, added purely to keep it apart from another name spelled the same way. It comes from a root about long life and about building things that last.
How old is the name Amr?
Amr first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Amr alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 1,000 people named Amr are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Amr most popular?
Amr peaked in 2007, reaching #2372 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 2,485 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Amr
Amr was a common name in Arabia before Islam and stayed common after it, carried by companions of the Prophet and by generals of the early conquests, among them the man who took Egypt and founded the city that became Cairo. Arabic scribes added a silent waw at the end to distinguish it in writing from Umar, which shares its consonants, and that convention survives. The name is given across the Arab world, in Egypt especially, and it came to American records with Egyptian and Levantine families.
Meaning
life; long-lived
Arabic Amr, from the root a-m-r, which carries living long, flourishing and inhabiting or building up a place. The same root gives Umar and the word for a lifespan.
Pronouncing Amr
AM-r
One syllable in Arabic, ending on a rolled r with no vowel after it, which English cannot quite do. English speakers say AM-er or AM-ro, and Egyptian families generally use Amro themselves.
Nicknames for Amr
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
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 200754 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2372reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%20 in 2025, from 20
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.
Amr in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- عمرو in Arabic — transliteration
- Umar in Arabic — related form
- Amr in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan, New York.
Amrs among us
people named Amr are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Amr
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 Khang test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Amr's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Khang climbed just as high around 1990, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Khang's path sketches the road Amr is walking now.
Amr 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
Amr beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Amr in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters: it is as short as a written name can be.
- It has an unbroken documented history of more than fourteen centuries.
- Amro is a ready everyday form for settings where the bare consonants are awkward.
- English has no way to end a syllable on r with no vowel, so the name is always adjusted.
- Amr, Amro and Omar all get written for one another by people unfamiliar with the name.
- Three consonants with no written vowel look to English readers like an abbreviation.
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What they receive
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Amr
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Amrs 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 Amr are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Amr in 2025?
- Amr ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Amr?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Amr — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Amr with classmates?
- Amr will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Amr
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Amr? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Amr and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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