Amber
Meaning
from the gemstone amber (fossilized tree resin), ultimately Arabic 'anbar'
The story
Amber is the English word worn as a name: the gemstone formed from fossil resin, or the orange-yellow colour, from a word that traces ultimately to the Arabic ʿanbar, ambergris. A well-traveled word, then, long before it was anyone's name. The name idles in the American record from the 1890s onward, then catches fire: 5,467 girls in the 1960s, 47,063 in the 1970s, 153,951 in the 1980s, 115,605 in the 1990s. That is nearly a third of a million Ambers in three decades. The 2010s eased to 10,023, with 3,402 so far this decade. Nature names come in waves, and Amber's was a spring tide. What remains is a warm, worldly word that made it from Arabic all the way to English nurseries, and still glows at a gentler wattage.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Amber peaked in the 1990s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
168 people · the #28,767 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 4
Among people named Amber living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 76 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Amber
Most people given the name Amber in the United States were born between 1980 and 1999. The Amber you meet today is most often in her 30s or 40s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Amber deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Amber 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 Amber fits with your family’s names and surname.
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