Sam
Sam was given to 428 boys in 2025, #647 among boys’ names; 128,810 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 47,600 Americans named Sam and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (37% of everyone recorded); the median is 50 years old and half are between 24 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Sam by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Sam mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Sam is “a diminutive of the male given names Samuel and Samson.”
Also “a diminutive of the female given name Samantha.”
/ˈsæm/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Sam?
#647 among boys’ names, 2025
Sam fell from #547 in 2015 to #647 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.27 to 0.25 per 1,000.
2,529 babies in 1918, the peak
Sam peaked in 1918, when 2,529 babies were given it (2,506 boys, #75 among boys’ names). The 452 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 18% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 428 | #647 | 0.25 |
| 2024 | 425 | #650 | 0.25 |
| 2023 | 403 | #676 | 0.24 |
| 2022 | 418 | #658 | 0.24 |
| 2021 | 412 | #659 | 0.24 |
| 2020 | 402 | #655 | 0.23 |
| 2019 | 443 | #618 | 0.25 |
| 2018 | 453 | #604 | 0.25 |
| 2017 | 528 | #537 | 0.29 |
| 2016 | 478 | #580 | 0.25 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 523 | #547 | 0.27 |
| 2014 | 523 | #536 | 0.27 |
| 2013 | 480 | #553 | 0.25 |
| 2012 | 510 | #518 | 0.27 |
| 2011 | 546 | #481 | 0.29 |
| 2010 | 550 | #472 | 0.29 |
| 2009 | 582 | #469 | 0.29 |
| 2008 | 608 | #459 | 0.30 |
| 2007 | 615 | #452 | 0.30 |
| 2006 | 586 | #461 | 0.29 |
| 2005 | 557 | #460 | 0.28 |
| 2004 | 595 | #437 | 0.30 |
| 2003 | 577 | #436 | 0.29 |
| 2002 | 561 | #442 | 0.29 |
| 2001 | 554 | #438 | 0.29 |
| 2000 | 517 | #460 | 0.26 |
| 1999 | 498 | #460 | 0.26 |
| 1998 | 492 | #458 | 0.26 |
| 1997 | 484 | #458 | 0.26 |
| 1996 | 527 | #428 | 0.28 |
| 1995 | 569 | #404 | 0.30 |
| 1994 | 554 | #414 | 0.29 |
| 1993 | 561 | #415 | 0.29 |
| 1992 | 575 | #401 | 0.29 |
| 1991 | 591 | #384 | 0.29 |
| 1990 | 586 | #396 | 0.29 |
| 1989 | 503 | #415 | 0.25 |
| 1988 | 479 | #413 | 0.25 |
| 1987 | 483 | #393 | 0.26 |
| 1986 | 381 | #441 | 0.21 |
| 1985 | 348 | #461 | 0.19 |
| 1984 | 363 | #444 | 0.20 |
| 1983 | 360 | #434 | 0.20 |
| 1982 | 373 | #433 | 0.21 |
| 1981 | 384 | #426 | 0.21 |
| 1980 | 364 | #429 | 0.20 |
| 1979 | 374 | #410 | 0.22 |
| 1978 | 417 | #379 | 0.25 |
| 1977 | 357 | #418 | 0.22 |
| 1976 | 397 | #389 | 0.25 |
| 1975 | 421 | #376 | 0.27 |
| 1974 | 436 | #366 | 0.28 |
| 1973 | 476 | #351 | 0.31 |
| 1972 | 497 | #346 | 0.31 |
| 1971 | 541 | #341 | 0.31 |
| 1970 | 600 | #321 | 0.32 |
| 1969 | 583 | #318 | 0.33 |
| 1968 | 568 | #320 | 0.33 |
| 1967 | 607 | #299 | 0.35 |
| 1966 | 678 | #285 | 0.38 |
| 1965 | 774 | #267 | 0.42 |
| 1964 | 955 | #248 | 0.48 |
| 1963 | 1,017 | #236 | 0.50 |
| 1962 | 1,070 | #237 | 0.52 |
| 1961 | 1,194 | #229 | 0.56 |
| 1960 | 1,211 | #228 | 0.57 |
| 1959 | 1,298 | #214 | 0.61 |
| 1958 | 1,177 | #225 | 0.55 |
| 1957 | 1,069 | #232 | 0.50 |
| 1956 | 951 | #238 | 0.45 |
| 1955 | 874 | #239 | 0.42 |
| 1954 | 873 | #238 | 0.43 |
| 1953 | 880 | #229 | 0.45 |
| 1952 | 940 | #215 | 0.48 |
| 1951 | 1,034 | #201 | 0.55 |
| 1950 | 956 | #207 | 0.53 |
| 1949 | 1,104 | #188 | 0.62 |
| 1948 | 1,238 | #176 | 0.71 |
| 1947 | 1,416 | #169 | 0.77 |
| 1946 | 1,304 | #164 | 0.80 |
| 1945 | 1,137 | #161 | 0.84 |
| 1944 | 1,212 | #157 | 0.89 |
| 1943 | 1,322 | #153 | 0.93 |
| 1942 | 1,280 | #152 | 0.93 |
| 1941 | 1,191 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,147 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1939 | 1,121 | #145 | 1.0 |
| 1938 | 1,162 | #141 | 1.0 |
| 1937 | 1,213 | #132 | 1.1 |
| 1936 | 1,236 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1935 | 1,364 | #126 | 1.3 |
| 1934 | 1,321 | #127 | 1.3 |
| 1933 | 1,351 | #121 | 1.4 |
| 1932 | 1,454 | #120 | 1.4 |
| 1931 | 1,460 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1930 | 1,668 | #110 | 1.5 |
| 1929 | 1,730 | #105 | 1.6 |
| 1928 | 1,759 | #109 | 1.6 |
| 1927 | 1,904 | #102 | 1.7 |
| 1926 | 2,033 | #92 | 1.8 |
| 1925 | 2,092 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1924 | 2,123 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1923 | 2,204 | #89 | 2.0 |
| 1922 | 2,349 | #84 | 2.2 |
| 1921 | 2,367 | #85 | 2.1 |
| 1920 | 2,283 | #84 | 2.1 |
| 1919 | 2,384 | #75 | 2.4 |
| 1918 | 2,506 | #75 | 2.5 |
| 1917 | 2,454 | #72 | 2.7 |
| 1916 | 2,313 | #74 | 2.6 |
| 1915 | 2,339 | #68 | 2.8 |
| 1914 | 1,880 | #67 | 2.9 |
| 1913 | 1,527 | #65 | 3.0 |
| 1912 | 1,325 | #63 | 3.1 |
| 1911 | 928 | #47 | 4.1 |
| 1910 | 888 | #40 | 4.6 |
| 1909 | 700 | #44 | 4.3 |
| 1908 | 644 | #46 | 4.2 |
| 1907 | 631 | #43 | 4.3 |
| 1906 | 552 | #43 | 4.1 |
| 1905 | 620 | #39 | 4.7 |
| 1904 | 603 | #40 | 4.7 |
| 1903 | 552 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1902 | 559 | #41 | 4.6 |
| 1901 | 479 | #41 | 4.5 |
| 1900 | 821 | #34 | 5.5 |
| 1899 | 469 | #44 | 4.4 |
| 1898 | 543 | #42 | 4.4 |
| 1897 | 478 | #45 | 4.2 |
| 1896 | 518 | #43 | 4.3 |
| 1895 | 487 | #43 | 4.1 |
| 1894 | 507 | #43 | 4.4 |
| 1893 | 481 | #43 | 4.3 |
| 1892 | 551 | #38 | 4.5 |
| 1891 | 418 | #43 | 4.1 |
| 1890 | 489 | #41 | 4.4 |
| 1889 | 486 | #40 | 4.4 |
| 1888 | 607 | #34 | 5.0 |
| 1887 | 463 | #39 | 4.6 |
| 1886 | 519 | #34 | 4.7 |
| 1885 | 492 | #35 | 4.6 |
| 1884 | 533 | #33 | 4.7 |
| 1883 | 476 | #33 | 4.5 |
| 1882 | 555 | #30 | 4.9 |
| 1881 | 481 | #32 | 4.8 |
| 1880 | 457 | #36 | 4.1 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Sam a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 128,810 Americans recorded as Sam, 1% are girls and 99% boys. In 2025 it went to 24 girls and 428 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Sam: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Sam, and how old are they?
47,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 37% of the 128,810 Americans ever recorded as Sam. The median Sam alive today is 50 years old; half are between 24 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 121,443 people named Sam (9,888 women and girls, 111,555 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 51,571 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.4 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Sam rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 4,370 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 13,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 7,210 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,360 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,820 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,070 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Sam born?
The states with the most babies named Sam are New York, Texas and California, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 10,809 | #374 | 1.1× |
| Texas | 8,779 | #745 | 1.2× |
| California | 7,666 | #571 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 6,461 | #862 | 1.1× |
| Mississippi | 4,842 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Alabama | 4,502 | #752 | 1.7× |
| Ohio | 4,413 | #1,239 | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 4,350 | #1,067 | 1.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 4,174 | #738 | 0.5× |
| Tennessee | 3,910 | #546 | 1.4× |
Where Sam is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Sam is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 2.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Sam with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 129,134 babies since 1880, Sam is the most given (100% of them). In 2025 it was given to 452 of their 469 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Sam
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Sam and names like it
- Compare Sam and SaimBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sSam peaked in 1918.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Sam since 1910.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Sam.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Sam alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with SMost given first.