Given name & surname
Anwar
“surrounded by light”·“luminous”
Anwar is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “surrounded by light” (Arabic) and “luminous”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Arabicأَنْوَار
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “surrounded by light” (Arabic) and “luminous”. These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Arabic.
How it developed
From Arabic أَنْوَر (“most luminous”); its root is Arabic ن و ر.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1969. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Anwar through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,864
- 2,761 boys · 103 girls
- Most popular year
- 1978
- 144 babies
- 2025
- 38
- #3,129 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −7%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 38 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,129 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 144 in 1978. In 2025, Minnesota had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (6). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,874 as a first name in 2020; 3,988 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Anwar’s family of names
In English usage, Anwar has a conventional equivalent in Enver. Anwar has a related form in ANUAR. In English usage, Anwar has a conventional equivalent in the Uzbek form ANVAR.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Anwar has relatives in 16 languages. Lines run from its Arabic roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 16
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 6
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Anwar
- Anwar SadatPresident of Egypt from 1970 to 19811918–1981
- Anwar IbrahimPrime Minister of Malaysia since 2022born 1947
- Anwar al-AwlakiAmerican-Yemeni imam and suspected Islamist extremist (1971–2011)
- Anwar El GhaziDutch association football playerborn 1995
- Anwar MesbahEgyptian weightlifter (1913-1998)
- Anwar Ahmed KhanPakistani field hockey player1933–2014
- Anwar WagdiEgyptian actor (1904–1955)
- Anwar ShaikhPakistani American economistborn 1945
- Anwar Shah KashmiriIslamic scholar1875–1933
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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