Samson
Samson was given to 639 boys in 2025, #477 among boys’ names; 12,879 Americans have been recorded with it since 1892 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 12,000 Americans named Samson and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (93% of everyone recorded); the median is 13 years old and half are between 6 and 27.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Samson by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Samson mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Samson is “a male given name from Hebrew.”
Also “an English surname derived from the given name, or from Samuel + son.”
From Middle English Sampson, Sampsoun, Samson, from Latin Samson, from Ancient Greek Σαμψών (Sampsṓn), from Hebrew שִׁמְשׁוֹן.
/ˈsæmsən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Samson?
#477 among boys’ names, 2025
Samson rose from #619 in 2015 to #477 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.23 to 0.37 per 1,000.
639 babies in 2025, the peak
Samson peaked in 2025, when 639 boys were given it, #477 among boys’ names. In 2024 it went to 585 boys.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 639 | #477 | 0.37 |
| 2024 | 585 | #522 | 0.34 |
| 2023 | 517 | #565 | 0.30 |
| 2022 | 491 | #585 | 0.28 |
| 2021 | 473 | #590 | 0.27 |
| 2020 | 495 | #566 | 0.29 |
| 2019 | 488 | #573 | 0.27 |
| 2018 | 512 | #546 | 0.28 |
| 2017 | 440 | #602 | 0.24 |
| 2016 | 481 | #577 | 0.25 |
Every recorded year (121)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 434 | #619 | 0.23 |
| 2014 | 420 | #627 | 0.22 |
| 2013 | 360 | #671 | 0.19 |
| 2012 | 280 | #802 | 0.15 |
| 2011 | 243 | #868 | 0.13 |
| 2010 | 244 | #863 | 0.13 |
| 2009 | 241 | #878 | 0.12 |
| 2008 | 214 | #945 | 0.10 |
| 2007 | 225 | #894 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 220 | #892 | 0.11 |
| 2005 | 151 | #1,098 | 0.08 |
| 2004 | 176 | #955 | 0.09 |
| 2003 | 158 | #1,004 | 0.08 |
| 2002 | 183 | #889 | 0.09 |
| 2001 | 173 | #906 | 0.09 |
| 2000 | 174 | #895 | 0.09 |
| 1999 | 155 | #941 | 0.08 |
| 1998 | 138 | #995 | 0.07 |
| 1997 | 135 | #973 | 0.07 |
| 1996 | 116 | #1,054 | 0.06 |
| 1995 | 122 | #1,006 | 0.06 |
| 1994 | 131 | #961 | 0.07 |
| 1993 | 123 | #974 | 0.06 |
| 1992 | 119 | #992 | 0.06 |
| 1991 | 108 | #1,034 | 0.05 |
| 1990 | 126 | #916 | 0.06 |
| 1989 | 97 | #1,059 | 0.05 |
| 1988 | 131 | #830 | 0.07 |
| 1987 | 89 | #1,007 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 74 | #1,092 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 109 | #873 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 95 | #907 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 86 | #953 | 0.05 |
| 1982 | 84 | #988 | 0.05 |
| 1981 | 85 | #984 | 0.05 |
| 1980 | 87 | #965 | 0.05 |
| 1979 | 81 | #988 | 0.05 |
| 1978 | 60 | #1,147 | 0.04 |
| 1977 | 76 | #987 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 62 | #1,065 | 0.04 |
| 1975 | 40 | #1,404 | 0.03 |
| 1974 | 52 | #1,149 | 0.03 |
| 1973 | 42 | #1,289 | 0.03 |
| 1972 | 35 | #1,447 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 48 | #1,197 | 0.03 |
| 1970 | 34 | #1,457 | 0.02 |
| 1969 | 28 | #1,560 | 0.02 |
| 1968 | 31 | #1,422 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 25 | #1,566 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 22 | #1,677 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 21 | #1,768 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 31 | #1,427 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 24 | #1,655 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 24 | #1,665 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 29 | #1,515 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 20 | #1,849 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 20 | #1,855 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 25 | #1,584 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 21 | #1,782 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 31 | #1,412 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 23 | #1,638 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 22 | #1,662 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 26 | #1,504 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 27 | #1,483 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 23 | #1,593 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 25 | #1,492 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 11 | #2,432 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 13 | #2,203 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 16 | #1,978 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 12 | #2,254 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 15 | #1,842 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 18 | #1,675 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 18 | #1,754 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 12 | #2,245 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 14 | #1,982 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 16 | #1,791 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 11 | #2,268 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 13 | #2,077 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 8 | #2,874 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 16 | #1,785 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 16 | #1,824 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 13 | #2,107 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,514 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 17 | #1,838 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 16 | #1,915 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 18 | #1,809 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,570 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 21 | #1,695 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 16 | #2,114 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 11 | #2,705 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 25 | #1,527 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 17 | #2,034 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 13 | #2,422 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 16 | #2,129 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 20 | #1,818 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 19 | #1,875 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 21 | #1,682 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 21 | #1,700 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 16 | #1,973 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 20 | #1,635 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 12 | #2,280 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 18 | #1,479 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 11 | #1,786 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,860 | 0.02 |
| 1911 | 7 | #1,512 | 0.03 |
| 1904 | 7 | #1,045 | 0.05 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,278 | 0.04 |
| 1900 | 6 | #1,282 | 0.04 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,269 | 0.04 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,039 | 0.05 |
| 1892 | 8 | #851 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Samson a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Samson has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 121 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Samson: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Samson, and how old are they?
12,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 93% of the 12,879 Americans ever recorded as Samson. The median Samson alive today is 13 years old; half are between 6 and 27.
The 2020 Census counted 10,470 people named Samson (60 women and girls, 10,410 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 9,053 born in the U.S. The Census count is 16% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 51 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 286 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 666 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,610 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,060 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,290 |
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 Samson born?
The states with the most babies named Samson are Texas, California and Florida, with 27% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 71 | #473 | 0.7× |
| California | 58 | #536 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 36 | #506 | 0.7× |
| New York | 29 | #556 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 28 | #412 | 0.6× |
| Ohio | 26 | #425 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 26 | #427 | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 21 | #485 | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 19 | #456 | 0.6× |
| Tennessee | 19 | #428 | 0.7× |
Where Samson is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Samson is most over-represented in Hawaii: since 1910 it was given 6.9 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 Samson 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 16,780 babies since 1880, Samson is the most given (77% of them). In 2025 it was given to 639 of their 673 babies (95%), 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 Samson
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 Samson and names like it
- Compare Samson and SampsonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sSamson peaked in 2025.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Samson since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Samson: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Samson.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Samson alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with SMost given first.