Holiday Calendar

National Amber Day

Next celebratedSunday, March 28, 2027

The word behind Amber travelled from Arabic anbar, meaning ambergris, which comes from whales and is not resin at all. March 28 belongs to a name that arrived by way of a sperm whale.

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Last updated September 6, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEMarch 28
OBSERVED INInternationally
CATEGORYNames
ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY
Not documented
FIRST OBSERVED
Not documented
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

The trail starts in September 2022.

National Amber Day appears on holiday-listing sites fixed to March 28, and the earliest archived trace of it anywhere is a listing captured on 30 September 2022. No founder, establishing act, proclamation or registry filing has been located, and no source explains the date.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday
INTRO

The name that took forty-two years to peak

Amber is not named after tree resin, exactly. The gemstone is fossil resin, but the word behind it travelled from Arabic anbar, meaning ambergris, which comes from whales and is not resin at all. The name carries a small case of mistaken identity.

The name's rise has a clear cause and a strange delay. Behind the Name records that Amber began to be used in the late 19th century but only became popular after Kathleen Winsor's novel Forever Amber appeared in 1944.

The book landed in 1944. The peak came in 1986, forty-two years later, when Amber reached 13th in the United States. National Amber Day sits on March 28 with nothing on record about who put it there.

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ORIGINS

Amber Day history

INTRODUCTION

Amber is one of the few given names that started as an object. It comes from the English word for the gemstone formed from fossil resin, or for the orange-yellow colour that gem gave its name to.

CHAPTER 01

A word that changed substances on the way

The word itself has drifted. Behind the Name traces it to Arabic anbar, meaning ambergris, a waxy substance from sperm whales used in perfume.

Ambergris and amber are not the same material. One is fossil tree resin and the other comes from an animal, and the name we give the gemstone arrived carrying the other one's word.

CHAPTER 02

A novel, and then a very long wait

Amber began to be used as a given name in the late 19th century, and for decades almost nobody chose it. It opens the American record in 1880 at 580th and then drops out for long stretches.

Kathleen Winsor published Forever Amber in 1944, and Behind the Name credits that book with making the name popular. The record shows the turn immediately: Amber is unranked in 1944 and back on the list at 954th in 1945.

CHAPTER 03

The peak nobody waited for

What the book did not do was produce a quick peak. Amber climbed for four decades, entering the American top 100 in 1974 and staying there until 2004, a run of thirty-one consecutive years.

Its best year was 1986, at 13th. That year Amber went to 0.919 percent of American girls born, which is close to one in a hundred.

The fall has been steadier than the climb. By 2025 the name sat at 520th, given to 0.033 percent of girls. It is still on the list it first joined in 1880.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Amber enters use as a name

The word for the gemstone begins to be given to children, well before anything makes it popular.

The American record opens

The first year of the US baby-name series carries Amber at 580th, after which it fades for decades.

Forever Amber is published

Kathleen Winsor's novel appears. Amber is unranked in the US that year.

Back on the list

Amber returns to the American list at 954th, the beginning of a four-decade climb.

Into the top 100

Amber enters the American top 100 and stays inside it for thirty-one consecutive years.

The peak

Amber reaches 13th, its best American rank, given to 0.919 percent of girls born that year.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Amber Day by the Numbers

#13
Best US rank, in 1986
0.919%
Share of US girls named Amber in 1986
31
Years inside the US top 100, 1974 to 2004
42
Years from the novel to the peak

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Amber Day

LAG

The book landed in 1944. The peak came in 1986.

Forever Amber came out in 1944 and the name peaked in 1986. The book started something that took two generations to run its course, which is a useful correction to the idea that culture moves names quickly.

ETYMOLOGY

The word outran the substance

Amber the gemstone is fossil resin. Amber the word descends from a term for ambergris, which comes from whales. The name carries a mix-up that predates everyone who has ever held it.

ORIGIN

The day has nothing behind it

March 28 carries no founder, no founding year and no stated reason. The name underneath it is documented for well over a century, which is enough to build a day on.

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Amber Day

The name comes from a word for whale secretion

Amber the gemstone is fossil tree resin, but the word descends from Arabic anbar, meaning ambergris, which is produced by sperm whales.

The novel and the comeback are one year apart

Forever Amber was published in 1944. Amber was unranked in the United States that year and back on the list at 954th in 1945.

Close to one girl in a hundred

At its 1986 peak Amber was given to 0.919 percent of American girls born that year, its highest share on record.

Thirty-one years inside the top 100

Amber held a place in the American top 100 from 1974 to 2004 without a break, then fell away.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Amber Day

EDITOR'S PICK

Look up the year you were born

The American series runs from 1880 to 2025 and is public. Find your year and see whether Amber was climbing toward 1986 or falling away from it.

READ

Read the book that started it

Forever Amber was the 1944 novel Behind the Name credits with making the name popular. It is the reason the name exists in numbers at all.

LEARN

Learn what ambergris actually is

It is a waxy substance from sperm whales, used in perfume, and it has nothing to do with fossil resin. The name carries its word anyway.

TELL

Tell an Amber about the lag

Most people assume a hit book moves a name immediately. This one took forty-two years to reach its peak, which is a better fact than a birthday card.

NOTICE

Notice where the name sits now

Amber ranked 520th in 2025, given to 0.033 percent of girls. It is still on a list it joined in 1880.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Amber Day?

1 / 5

What does the Arabic word behind Amber actually mean?

Answer

It is observed on March 28 each year.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

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