Lamar
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "bitter".
Name Census estimates that about 26,825 living Americans carry the first name Lamar. It is a predominantly male name (96.4% of registrations). The average person named Lamar today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lamar births was 1989 (748 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lamar. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lamar with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Lamar is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,265 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
27K
~ 1 in 12,777 Americans
Peak year
1989
748 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,515
Tracked since 1882
Census
Lamar in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,067 people with the first name Lamar, which placed it at #1,550 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,550
National first-name rank
People counted
21K
21,067 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lamar
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamar is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are White (23.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lamar described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lamar at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.7% · 14,057
- White23.8% · 5,018
- Two or more races4.3% · 906
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 844
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 151
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 91
Gender
Gender distribution for Lamar
Lamar leans heavily male at 96.4% of total registrations, but 1,265 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lamar as a male name
- Ranked #1,515 in 2024
- 117 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (737 births)
Lamar as a female name
- Ranked #6,510 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (60 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lamar leans strongly male. 20,207 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 862 female bearers (4.1%).
Popularity
Lamar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lamar from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 6,172 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lamar by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Lamar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lamars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Georgia, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Lamar, while New Mexico, Iowa, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 784 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lamar
The name Lamar has its origins in the French language, tracing its roots back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "l'amar," which means "the lover" or "the beloved." The name is believed to have emerged around the 12th or 13th century, often used as a term of endearment or affection.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lamar can be found in the medieval French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), which dates back to the late 11th century. In this work, the name appears as a character's name, although the specific context and role of the character are not entirely clear.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the name Lamar was primarily used in France and other French-speaking regions. It was not as widely popular as some other French names, but it maintained a presence, particularly among the nobility and upper classes.
One notable figure in history who bore the name Lamar was Lamar de Bouillon, a French knight who participated in the Third Crusade (1189-1192) under the leadership of King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England. De Bouillon's exact birth and death dates are uncertain, but he is mentioned in historical accounts of the Crusades.
Another significant individual with the name Lamar was Lamar de Lubersac, a French nobleman and military leader who lived during the 15th century. He served as a commander in the Hundred Years' War and was known for his bravery and strategic skills on the battlefield. De Lubersac's birth and death years are not precisely documented, but he is believed to have been active in the latter half of the 1400s.
In the 17th century, a prominent figure named Lamar de Montesquieu, a French philosopher and writer, gained recognition for his influential work "The Spirit of the Laws," which explored the concepts of political theory and the separation of powers. De Montesquieu was born in 1689 and died in 1755.
Another notable Lamar in history was Lamar de La Condamine, a French explorer and mathematician who led an expedition to South America in the 1730s to measure the circumference of the Earth at the equator. De La Condamine was born in 1701 and died in 1774.
Lastly, one cannot overlook Lamar de Saint-Martin, a French philosopher and mystic who lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was known for his writings on esoteric and mystical subjects, including his influential work "The Man of Desire." De Saint-Martin was born in 1743 and died in 1803.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lamar
People
Lamar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lamar as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lamar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lamar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26,825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lamar going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 12,777 US residents.
Is Lamar a common name?
We classify Lamar as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35,111 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lamar most popular?
The single biggest year for Lamar was 1989, when 748 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lamar is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lamar in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,067 people with the name Lamar, or 6.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,550 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lamar in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lamar?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lamar leans strongly male. 20,207 people counted with this name were male (95.9%), compared with 862 female bearers (4.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lamar?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lamar is Black at 66.7%. The next largest groups are White (23.8%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lamar most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lamar in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (14,057 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lamar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lamar a male name?
Yes, 96.4% of people registered as Lamar in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Lamar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lamar in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lamar can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Lamar?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Lamar, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.