Lamar
A surname of uncertain origin, found chiefly in English- and Spanish-speaking contexts and often treated as a locational or nickname-style name.
The #3,057 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,314 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Lamar is not securely explained by the excerpts provided. In Spanish, the element la mar means “the sea,” and some writers have also treated Lamar as related to older forms of llamar or to other Spanish words by folk association, but that is not a settled surname derivation. In English-language surname use, it is often handled as a transferred or adapted name rather than a clearly traceable native occupational or patronymic form.
History
The name is best known in modern usage through American families, especially in the southern United States, where it appears as both a surname and occasionally a given name. Historical spelling and origin can vary by family line, and some bearers may have adopted or altered the name from French, Spanish, or Anglicized forms. Because the documentary evidence is mixed and the supplied excerpts are only incidental mentions, the surname’s exact path cannot be stated with confidence.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Lamar is short and visually simple, it has often been mistaken for a word-name, but surname evidence does not support one single universally accepted origin.
From the historical record
“ta por unas mujeres de Tesalia, celosas de su hermosura. Lamar. Anticuado, llamar. Lamas. El cieno que queda en el fondo de los parajes o vasos en que hai o ha habido agua largo tiempo. Tela o : nata que cria el agua en su especie.—LAMAa. En tibetano, sacerdote, nombre que din a los sacerdotes del budismo”
— Diccionario de los apellidos