Lamar
- Pronunciation
- [La-mar]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Land Famous
- Origin
- German
About the Name Lamar
Lamar comes from an old surname carried into English-speaking use, traditionally interpreted in connection with "land" and "fame" through its Germanic elements, and sometimes linked to a place by the sea. As a given name it has a smooth, confident two-syllable sound, with the stress falling on the second syllable to lend it a touch of formality and flair that has made it a distinctive and memorable choice for boys over the years.
The name belongs to a small family of spellings, and the recorded variant Lamarr doubles the final consonant for a slightly more dramatic, stylized look. Lamar has long been valued as a strong, individual choice that works equally well as a first name or a surname, with a sound that feels both classic and effortlessly cool across generations.
As a boys' name, Lamar first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 2000 at its peak rank of #638 and last appeared there in 2017 at #915, with roughly 5,200 boys given the name across that span. Its steady presence through the 2000s and 2010s marks Lamar as a familiar yet individual choice with real staying power. Smooth, confident, and rhythmic, the name carries an easy charisma that has kept it appealing as both a first name and a surname, distinctive without ever feeling unfamiliar, with a stylish, effortless flair all its own.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Lamar
US Popularity History (2000–2017)
Annual US births named Lamar by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2006 with 340 boys named Lamar (boy rank #671 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2017, ranked #915 for boys (234 US births). That's 244 places below its 2006 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Lamar Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Lamar the strongest states are South Carolina, Wisconsin, Kentucky.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina | #528 | 32 |
| 2 | Wisconsin | #653 | 21 |
| 3 | Kentucky | #665 | 17 |
| 4 | Ohio | #679 | 126 |
| 5 | Maryland | #687 | 21 |
| 6 | Michigan | #694 | 106 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania | #732 | 108 |
| 8 | North Carolina | #746 | 34 |
| 9 | Georgia | #788 | 67 |
| 10 | Virginia | #792 | 35 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | #1,034 | 42 |
| 2 | New Jersey | #865 | 28 |
| 3 | Indiana | #825 | 35 |
| 4 | Illinois | #794 | 58 |
| 5 | Virginia | #792 | 35 |
| 6 | Georgia | #788 | 67 |
| 7 | North Carolina | #746 | 34 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | #732 | 108 |
| 9 | Michigan | #694 | 106 |
| 10 | Maryland | #687 | 21 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Lamar in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamarr | Of The Sea. | Male | French |
Looking for names like Lamar?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Lamar to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Lamar against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).