Ambar
Meaning
“Spanish spelling of Amber, from Arabic 'anbar,' fossil resin/ambergris”
The story
Ambar is the Spanish spelling of Amber, and both go back to the same Arabic word, 'anbar, which named ambergris before it named the golden fossil resin that jewelry made famous. As a given name it belongs with the gemstone names, Esmeralda, Perla, Rubí, that Spanish-speaking parents have drawn on for generations. In US records Ambar is a quietly steady choice rather than a trend. It has held a remarkably consistent level since the 1980s, most current in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure, the profile of a name sustained by families rather than fashion. The name also has a separate life in South Asia, where Ambar echoes the Sanskrit ambara, the sky, one spelling with two ancestries. Families who choose it over Amber are usually choosing the Spanish reading of it, and the name repays them by staying rare enough to feel their own.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ambar peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
147 people · the #31,519 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 7
Among people named Ambar living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 46 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Ambar
Most people given the name Ambar in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Ambar deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ambar truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ambar fits with your family’s names and surname.
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