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Another claims it's Latin, which is also fictional. Latin amaris is the second-person singular present passive indicative of amō (to love, i.e. Amaris is roughly "[you] are loved"), and the dative plural of amarus "bitter" (i.e. it modifies a dative plural noun for example in a phrase "julius led his army over bitter seas", in this context the Latin declension used would be "amaris" - but an odd choice for a first name). Whatever the origin (probably a Spanish or Italian version of Germanic Athelmar [-th- is often elided in Romance versions of Germanic names, cf. Geoffrey from Goisfrith, Audrey from Athelthryth]), Amaris became a surname, as well as a first name (feminine in Hispanic, masculine in Italian). I would say it is rare even in Hispanic- and Italian-American families until the very late '70s. In the very late 20th century it seems to have been adopted by Neopaganism (possibly from a fictional Amaris, possibly a misinterpretation of a name such as Mons. Amaris), as a name for a "moon child", with a fictional origin in Latin, Hindi or Old Irish.

This message was edited 3/3/2019, 3:23 PM