Anwar
Masculine · “brighter”
Anwar is given to both — 2,761 boys and 103 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Anwar is an Arabic word in the grammatical form used for comparison — not bright but brighter, the most luminous of several. It is used across the Arabic-speaking world, in Indonesia and Malaysia, and in South Asia, which makes it one of the most widely traveled names in this book.
How old is the name Anwar?
Anwar first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Anwar alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 2,700 people named Anwar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anwar most popular?
Anwar peaked in 1978, reaching #697 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 2,431 places below that high. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nur to Anwar
The story of Anwar
Arabic builds a comparative by pouring a root into a fixed pattern, and the root for light poured into it gives anwar. The word appears in classical poetry long before it settled as a personal name, and it spread with Arabic across North Africa, into the Malay world and into the Indian subcontinent. Each of those regions has used it steadily since, which is why it arrives in American records from families with very different first languages.
Meaning
brighter, most luminous
The comparative form of the Arabic root for light; the same root gives Nur and Munir.
How the name formed
- nur
- anwar
Related forms: Anwer · Anwar · Anwaar · Enver
Pronouncing Anwar
AN-war
Two syllables, first stressed. The w is a full consonant, not swallowed.
Nicknames for Anwar
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
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 1978144 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #697reached in 1978
- Change vs 2024
- −13.6%38 in 2025, from 44
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.
Anwar in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anwer in Arabic — transliteration
- Anwar in Indonesian — same name
- Anwaar in Urdu — spelling variant
- Enver in Turkish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, California, Texas.
Anwars among us
people named Anwar are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Anwar
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 Orvil test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anwar's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Orvil climbed just as high around 1921, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Orvil's path sketches the road Anwar is walking now.
Anwar 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 Anwar is headed
Anwar should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Anwar beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anwar in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Recognized across the Arab world, Southeast Asia and South Asia, which is a very large ready-made audience.
- Short, spelled as it sounds in English, and hard to mishear.
- A documented meaning that needs no hedging.
- Anwer and Enver are the same name in other spellings and will be offered as corrections.
- It is strongly marked as a Muslim name, which is a fact worth knowing rather than a drawback.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Anwar to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Anwar
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anwars are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Anwar are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anwar in 2025?
- Anwar ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anwar?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Anwar — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anwar with classmates?
- Anwar will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anwar
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anwar? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anwar and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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