Amir (name)

Amir (also spelled Ameer or Emir; (Arabic: أمير , Persian: امیر , Persian pronunciation: [æmiːˈɾ], Hebrew: אמיר) is a masculine name of multi-lingual origin.

The name has different meanings in multiple languages.

In Arabic the name means prince or royal. The word originally meant "Commander (of army)". It later became a title given to a ruler's son, and hence "prince". In Arabic, the name comes from the same root as the word emir.

In Urdu (Urdu: عامر) the name has the same meaning as the original in Arabic, meaning ‘prince”.

In Persian (Persian: امير) the name means ‘immortal’. In Persian Amir has a different meaning with other languages, it consists of two parts; "A" which means "Un" and "mir" which is the root of the verb "Mordan" (to die), so Amir in Persian means "the one who [his spirit and his memory] will never die".

In Pashto (Pashto: امير) the name comes to mean ‘leader’ or ‘boss’.

In Hebrew, when spelt אמיר the name means crown (treetop). When spelt עמיר the name means a small sheaf or bundle (of grain, usually wheat or barley)

Usage

Amir is most common as a given name in Iran.

Amir was among the five most popular names for Black newborn boys in the American state of Virginia in 2022 and again in 2023.

Given name

Notable persons with the name include:

• Al-Amir bi-Ahkami l-Lah (1096–1130), tenth Fatimid Caliph and recognised as the 20th imam by the Mustaali Ismaili Shi'a sect
• Amir Abdur-Rahim (born 1981), American basketball coach
• Amir Khosrow Afshar (1919–1999), Iranian diplomat
• Amir Bageria (born 2000), Canadian actor
• Amir Bagheri (born 1978), Iranian chess grandmaster
• Amir Bell (born 1996), American basketball player in the Israel Basketball Premier League
• Amir Blumenfeld (born 1983), American-Israeli comedian/actor
• Ameer Bux Bhutto, Pakistani politician
• Amir Celestin (born 1990), American basketball player
• Amir Coffey (born 1997), American basketball player
• Amir Derakh, American musician
• Amir Eshel (born 1959), Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force
• Amir Farshad Ebrahimi (born 1975), former member of Ansar-e Hezbollah and currently a peace and human rights activist living in Germany
• Amir Gal-Or (born 1962), Israeli businessman and the managing partner of Infinity Group
• Amir Ganiel (1963–2018), former Israeli swimming champion and record holder in swimming
• Amir Ghalenoei (born 1963), Iranian football coach and former player
• Amir Haddad (born 1984), Israeli French singer and songwriter
• Amir Hamed (1962–2017), Uruguayan writer and translator of Lebanese descent
• Amir Hashemi (born 1966), Iranian footballer
• Amir Mirza Hekmati, alleged American CIA operative
• Amir Hinton (born 1997), American basketball player
• Amir-Abbas Hoveyda (1919–1979), Iranian economist and politician
• Amir Johnson (born 1987), American basketball player
• Amir Karara (born 1977), Egyptian actor
• Amir Karić (born 1973), Bosnian-Slovenian footballer
• Amir Reza Khadem (born 1970), Iranian wrestler
• Amir Khan (1912–1974), Hindustani classical vocalist
• Amir Khan (born 1986), British boxer
• Amir Khusrow, Indian musician, scholar and poet
• Amir Kror Suri, aka Jahan Pahlawan, Pashtun national history figure and a governor of Mandesh in Ghor
• Amir Mohebbian (born 1962), ranian politician, journalist and political analyst
• Amir Mohebi (born 1981), former Iranian footballer
• Amir Mokri (born 1956), Iranian cinematographer
• Amir Muchtari (born 1972), Israeli basketball player
• Amir Nachumi (born 1945), Israeli Air Force general
• Amir Naderi (born 1946), Iranian film director
• Amir Ohana (born 1976), Israeli politician
• Amir Peretz (born 1952), Moroccan-born Israeli politician
• Amir Hossein Rabii (1930–1979), Iranian Air Force commander
• Amir Sadollah (born 1980), retired American mixed martial arts fighter
• Amir Slama, Brazilian fashion designer
• Amir Spahić (born 1983), retired Bosnian footballer
• Ameer Speed (born 1999), American football player
• Amir Tibon (born 1989), Israeli journalist
• Amir Vahedi (1961–2010), Iranian-born American professional poker player
• Amir Wilson (born 2004), British actor
• Ameer Ali, Australian economist and community leader
• Ameer Sultan (born 1967), Tamil film director
• Ameer Vann (born 1996), former member of boy band Brockhampton
• Abdul Ameer Yousef Habeeb, Iraqi journalist
• Amir Shurush (born 1984), Arab Israeli comedian

Fictional characters

• Amir, the protagonist in The Kite Runner
• Amir Kaffarov, an antagonist in Battlefield 3, a 2011 video game
• Amir Kazim, a character in A Wedding (Noces), a 2016 film

Middle name

• Mohammad Amir Khatam (1920–1975), commander of the Iranian air force
• Tengku Amir Hamzah (1911–1946), Indonesian poet
• Tamino (musician) (born 1996), Belgian-Egyptian singer, songwriter and musician

Surname

• Eldad Amir (born 1961), Israeli Olympic competitive sailor
• Eli Amir (born 1937), Israeli writer
• Menashe Amir (born 1939), Iranian-born Israeli Persian-language broadcaster
• Mohammad Amir (born 1992), Pakistani cricketer banned for spot-fixing
• Nina Amir (born 1999), Israeli Olympic sports sailor
• Yigal Amir (born 1970), assassin of Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin
• Zainab Abdul Amir, Bahraini politician and journalist

Fictional characters

• Yusuf Amir, a character from the Grand Theft Auto game series

See also

• All pages with titles beginning with Amir
• All pages with titles containing Amir
• Amir (disambiguation)
• Amiri (surname)
• Emir (disambiguation)
• Emir (name)
• Amira (name), female version
• Aamir (disambiguation)
• Mirza
• Almir (given name)

References