Amandil means "Devoted to Aman" in Quenya (from -ndil "friend, lover, devoted to"). Like all the rulers of Númenor who took their royal names in Quenya, Amandil added the prefix tar- ("high") to his name when he received the Sceptre. In Sauron Defeated, the name of Elendil's father, Amandil, is listed as Aphanuzîr, therefore his Adûnaic name was Ar-Aphanuzîr.
Quenya
amandil
masculine name. Lover of Aman
tar-amandil
Tar-Amandil
Eärendur (son of Tar-Amandil)
Eärendur (son of Tar-Amandil)
Tar-Amandil was the third ruler of Númenor (UTI/219). Many centuries later a second, more famous, Amandil was the last lord of Andúnië and the father of Elendil, and was therefore ancestor of the kings of Gondor and Arnor (LotR/1035-6, S/271-3). This name is a compound of Aman and the suffix -(n)dil “lover”, and thus means “Lover of Aman”.
Conceptual Development: When this character first appeared in the “Lost Road”, his name was ᴹQ. Elendil “Elf-friend”, while his son was called ᴹQ. Herendil (LR/57). In “The Notion Club Papers”, the character was given the Adûnaic name Ad. Arbazân >> Aphanuzîr, while his son was named Ad. Nimruzân >> Nimruzîr “Elf-friend” (SD/389-90), so the meaning of the father’s name shifted to his son. The contemporaneous Quenya names for the characters also shifted to ᴹQ. Amardil and ᴹQ. Elendil (SD/356). The final form Amandil did not appear until quite late in the development of the Akallabêth (SD/382).