Given name & surname
Hagar
“one who is forsaken; taking flight; a stranger”·“a wanderer”
Hagar is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “flight in Hebrew, although the biblical character so called was Egyptian) borne by a handmaid of Abraham” (Hebrew), “one who is forsaken; taking flight; a stranger” (Hebrew), and “a wanderer” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original Hebrewהגר
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “flight in Hebrew, although the biblical character so called was Egyptian) borne by a handmaid of Abraham” (Hebrew), “one who is forsaken; taking flight; a stranger” (Hebrew), and “a wanderer” (Hebrew). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
The story
In biblical tradition, Hagar is the name of a handmaid of Abraham’s wife Sarah.
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Hagar appears in Genesis 16:1.
From biblical name research
Hagar through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 157
- 0 boys · 157 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 11 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #15,727 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 15,727 among girls’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 505 as a first name in 2020; 2,589 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.
Hagar’s family of names
Hagar has a related form in Hajar. In English usage, Hagar has a conventional equivalent in the Kurdish form HACER. Hagar has a related form in Hagarr.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Hagar has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Hebrewwhere Hagar comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 5
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 6
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 Hagar
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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