Fun Facts About the Name Umar
- More than 3 thousand babies named Umar: U.S. records list 3,205 babies given the name Umar from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Umar Mean?
Umar is an Arabic masculine name most often translated as "flourishing" or "long-lived." It comes from the Arabic root ʿ-m-r (ع م ر), which has to do with life, length of days, and inhabitation. The same root produces ʿumr (عُمْر), "life" or "lifespan," ʿimārah (عِمَارَة), "building" or "construction," and maʿmūr (مَعْمُور), "inhabited" or "cultivated." The literal force of the root is about living long and about making something thrive or be populated; "flourishing" is the customary short rendering.
Umar is a distinct name from ʿAmr (عَمْرو), even though the two look alike in English letters and come from related roots. It is also unrelated to the Hebrew name Omer (עֹמֶר), which means a sheaf of grain or a biblical unit of measure. The Turkish and Ottoman form of the same Arabic name is Ömer, and Omar is the usual English spelling.
Umar Name History & Origins
Umar belongs to the old stock of Arabic personal names built on the root ʿ-m-r. Its best-known early bearer, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, was born in Mecca around 584, before the rise of Islam, which indicates the name was already in use in pre-Islamic Arabia. He became a companion of Muhammad and then the second caliph, ruling from 634 to 644; Arabic tradition remembers him by the title al-Fārūq, "the one who distinguishes," and his caliphate saw the rapid expansion of Muslim rule into Syria, Egypt, and Iraq. His prominence made the name widely familiar in the early Muslim community.
The name stayed common in Islamic societies. An Umayyad caliph, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, known as Umar II, ruled from 717 to 720 and was remembered for administrative and fiscal reforms. As Islam spread, the name traveled with it - into Persia and Central Asia, North Africa, the Iberian Peninsula, and later South and Southeast Asia and West Africa. A notable later bearer was El Hadj Umar Tall (died 1864), the Tukolor religious and military leader in what is now Senegal and Mali.
Because Arabic ʿayn (ع) has no direct equivalent in Latin script, the name is written in different ways depending on language and convention: Umar and Omar in English, Ömer in Turkish, and عمر in Persian and Urdu. Regional forms such as Umaru in Hausa-speaking areas reflect the same Arabic original. Fictional characters named Umar or Omar appear in modern novels, television, and film, but those are literary uses of an existing name, not its source.
How Popular is the Name Umar?
Umar has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #1,164 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,164 | 180 | 0.0105% |
| 2024 | #1,165 | 179 | 0.0104% |
| 2023 | #1,269 | 152 | 0.0089% |
| 2022 | #1,247 | 158 | 0.0091% |
| 2021 | #1,394 | 132 | 0.0076% |
| 2020 | #1,608 | 101 | 0.0059% |
| 2019 | #1,532 | 111 | 0.0062% |
| 2018 | #1,347 | 134 | 0.0074% |
| 2017 | #1,457 | 117 | 0.0063% |
| 2016 | #1,466 | 118 | 0.0062% |
| 2015 | #1,443 | 118 | 0.0062% |
| 2014 | #1,626 | 96 | 0.0050% |
| 2013 | #1,634 | 94 | 0.0050% |
| 2012 | #1,922 | 75 | 0.0040% |
| 2011 | #1,862 | 76 | 0.0040% |
| 2010 | #1,712 | 90 | 0.0047% |
| 2009 | #2,748 | 45 | 0.0023% |
| 2008 | #2,625 | 48 | 0.0024% |
| 2007 | #2,211 | 61 | 0.0029% |
| 2006 | #2,173 | 60 | 0.0029% |
| 2005 | #2,112 | 59 | 0.0030% |
| 2004 | #2,022 | 60 | 0.0030% |
| 2003 | #1,983 | 59 | 0.0030% |
| 2002 | #2,017 | 55 | 0.0028% |
| 2001 | #1,868 | 60 | 0.0031% |
| 2000 | #1,923 | 55 | 0.0028% |
| 1999 | #1,853 | 54 | 0.0028% |
| 1998 | #2,038 | 47 | 0.0025% |
| 1997 | #2,227 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1996 | #2,180 | 39 | 0.0021% |
| 1995 | #2,919 | 25 | 0.0013% |
| 1994 | #2,344 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 1993 | #2,086 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 1992 | #2,827 | 25 | 0.0013% |
| 1991 | #2,404 | 30 | 0.0015% |
| 1990 | #2,691 | 25 | 0.0012% |
| 1989 | #2,688 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 1988 | #2,249 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 1987 | #2,633 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1986 | #2,155 | 27 | 0.0015% |
| 1985 | #2,223 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 1984 | #2,816 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1983 | #2,268 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 1982 | #2,421 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1981 | #2,776 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1980 | #2,821 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1979 | #2,306 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 1978 | #2,663 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1977 | #3,189 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1976 | #3,710 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #3,937 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1974 | #2,791 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 1973 | #2,849 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1971 | #4,358 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #3,816 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1969 | #5,001 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #4,502 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #3,586 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #4,218 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Umar Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have talent, charm and luck. You can succeed in art and in any educational occupation. You attract peculiar experiences. Your power and protection lies in spiritual side of life. You are an enthusiastic collector and you will be tenacious in holding onto the things you accumulate. You have a good memory and should make an effort to have a positive attitude. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Umar's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Umar's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.