Omar
Meaning
flourishing, long-lived
Say it: OH-mar
The story
Omar is the usual English and Spanish spelling of Arabic Umar, from a root associated with life, flourishing, and long duration. It is also the spelling English readers know from the twelfth-century Persian poet and mathematician Omar Khayyam. A separate biblical Hebrew name happens to be written Omar in English, but that is a different route and should not be used to explain the common Arabic name. The nametree curve begins to move in the 1970s and 1980s, rises in the 1990s, holds a broad high level through the 2000s and 2010s, and eases in the 2020s. Its endurance reflects a name at home across Arabic, Bosnian, Malay, Bengali, English, Spanish, and Italian use. Omar is globally familiar without losing the Arabic history that gives it its central meaning.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Omar peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
8,107 people · the #1,969 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 25,000 · median age 51
Among people named Omar living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 105 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Omar
Most people given the name Omar 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 Omar deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Omar 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 Omar fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Omar travels
Arab American · flourishing, long-lived (name of the second Islamic caliph)
Somali · traditionally meaning long-lived, flourishing
Keep exploring
Somali baby names · Arab American baby names · Arabic baby names · Short names
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