San
San is given to both girls and boys: 8 girls and 5 boys were given it in 2025 (#11,751 among girls’ names and #13,548 among boys’, #14,162 among all names counting both); 2,502 Americans have been recorded with it since 1911 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,030 Americans named San and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (81% of everyone recorded); the median is 56 years old and half are between 43 and 67.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of San by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does San mean?
Wiktionary, Vietnamese section
San is “a female given name from Chinese”
[saːn˧˧]
Meaning: Wiktionary, Vietnamese section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is San?
#11,751 among girls’ names, 2025
San rose from #18,654 in 2015 to #11,751 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 2.8 to 5.0 per million.
74 babies in 1950, the peak
San peaked in 1950, when 74 babies were given it (66 girls, #1,141 among girls’ names). The 13 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 18% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 8 | #11,751 | 5 | #13,548 |
| 2024 | 5 | #17,256 | 6 | #12,103 |
| 2021 | 7 | #13,244 | 5 | #13,735 |
| 2020 | under 5 | 6 | #11,765 | |
| 2019 | under 5 | 5 | #13,784 | |
| 2017 | under 5 | 5 | #13,893 | |
| 2016 | 5 | #18,392 | 5 | #13,841 |
| 2015 | 5 | #18,654 | 8 | #9,414 |
| 2014 | under 5 | 10 | #8,017 | |
| 2013 | under 5 | 5 | #13,701 |
Every recorded year (99)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | under 5 | 8 | #9,510 | |
| 2008 | under 5 | 10 | #8,190 | |
| 2007 | 5 | #19,984 | under 5 | |
| 2005 | under 5 | 5 | #12,998 | |
| 2004 | 5 | #18,275 | 5 | #12,883 |
| 2003 | under 5 | 9 | #7,711 | |
| 2002 | under 5 | 5 | #12,161 | |
| 2001 | 5 | #17,410 | under 5 | |
| 2000 | 5 | #17,082 | under 5 | |
| 1999 | 6 | #14,078 | 10 | #6,418 |
| 1998 | 5 | #16,084 | under 5 | |
| 1997 | 7 | #11,827 | 6 | #9,056 |
| 1996 | 7 | #11,541 | 9 | #6,389 |
| 1995 | 7 | #11,510 | 13 | #4,731 |
| 1994 | 7 | #11,518 | 8 | #6,855 |
| 1993 | 10 | #8,559 | 9 | #6,128 |
| 1992 | 9 | #9,325 | 15 | #4,060 |
| 1991 | 13 | #6,892 | 17 | #3,600 |
| 1990 | 14 | #6,385 | 15 | #3,927 |
| 1989 | 11 | #7,338 | 15 | #3,770 |
| 1988 | 13 | #6,181 | 11 | #4,401 |
| 1987 | 11 | #6,678 | 16 | #3,169 |
| 1986 | 15 | #5,136 | 12 | #3,837 |
| 1985 | 10 | #6,835 | 15 | #3,188 |
| 1984 | 17 | #4,452 | 23 | #2,277 |
| 1983 | 17 | #4,430 | 9 | #4,431 |
| 1982 | 28 | #3,152 | 20 | #2,504 |
| 1981 | 20 | #3,973 | 18 | #2,658 |
| 1980 | 28 | #3,118 | 16 | #2,934 |
| 1979 | 20 | #3,873 | 8 | #4,777 |
| 1978 | 26 | #3,074 | 10 | #3,805 |
| 1977 | 28 | #2,893 | 9 | #4,098 |
| 1976 | 21 | #3,380 | 10 | #3,672 |
| 1975 | 39 | #2,189 | 13 | #3,046 |
| 1974 | 36 | #2,243 | 8 | #4,121 |
| 1973 | 40 | #2,056 | 7 | #4,418 |
| 1972 | 29 | #2,502 | 13 | #2,797 |
| 1971 | 55 | #1,679 | 13 | #2,786 |
| 1970 | 42 | #2,002 | 9 | #3,480 |
| 1969 | 55 | #1,628 | 9 | #3,272 |
| 1968 | 51 | #1,621 | 5 | #4,635 |
| 1967 | 48 | #1,654 | 15 | #2,121 |
| 1966 | 48 | #1,630 | 6 | #3,879 |
| 1965 | 43 | #1,735 | 6 | #3,860 |
| 1964 | 42 | #1,831 | 5 | #4,515 |
| 1963 | 38 | #1,917 | 6 | #3,979 |
| 1962 | 46 | #1,686 | 8 | #3,263 |
| 1961 | 42 | #1,783 | 8 | #3,314 |
| 1960 | 47 | #1,652 | 5 | #4,513 |
| 1959 | 36 | #1,876 | 9 | #3,003 |
| 1958 | 47 | #1,570 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | 38 | #1,773 | 9 | #2,992 |
| 1956 | 42 | #1,654 | 5 | #4,382 |
| 1955 | 35 | #1,795 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | 48 | #1,456 | 7 | #3,413 |
| 1953 | 42 | #1,524 | 5 | #4,259 |
| 1952 | 36 | #1,631 | under 5 | |
| 1951 | 52 | #1,298 | under 5 | |
| 1950 | 66 | #1,141 | 8 | #2,988 |
| 1949 | 42 | #1,432 | 9 | #2,772 |
| 1948 | 36 | #1,569 | under 5 | |
| 1947 | 28 | #1,851 | 7 | #3,325 |
| 1946 | 25 | #1,847 | under 5 | |
| 1945 | 18 | #2,046 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 17 | #2,179 | under 5 | |
| 1943 | 6 | #4,610 | 5 | #3,966 |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,560 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 7 | #3,893 | 5 | #3,928 |
| 1940 | 6 | #4,270 | under 5 | |
| 1938 | 7 | #3,795 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 7 | #3,738 | under 5 | |
| 1935 | 7 | #3,697 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | 11 | #2,709 | under 5 | |
| 1933 | 9 | #3,079 | under 5 | |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,806 | under 5 | |
| 1931 | 6 | #4,268 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | 6 | #4,488 | under 5 | |
| 1929 | 9 | #3,352 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,131 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | 6 | #4,722 | under 5 | |
| 1926 | 7 | #4,246 | 5 | #4,730 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,977 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 12 | #2,950 | 5 | #4,849 |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,614 | 5 | #4,850 |
| 1921 | 5 | #5,745 | under 5 | |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,648 | under 5 | |
| 1919 | under 5 | 5 | #4,697 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 5 | #4,477 | |
| 1911 | 7 | #2,164 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is San a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 2,502 Americans recorded as San, 75% are girls and 25% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named San: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named San, and how old are they?
2,030 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 81% of the 2,502 Americans ever recorded as San. The median San alive today is 56 years old; half are between 43 and 67.
The 2020 Census counted 4,389 people named San (2,159 women and girls, 2,230 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,102 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.1 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form San 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 | 48 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 676 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 701 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 416 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 94 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 89 |
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 San born?
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 1,432 | not ranked | 8.3× |
| California | 88 | not ranked | 0.4× |
Where San is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, San is most over-represented in Texas: since 1911 it was given 8.3 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 girls’ 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 San with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as San
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 San and names like it
- Compare San and LynellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sSan peaked in 1950.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named San since 1910.
- Chinese namesWiktionary’s origin for San: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1950The year the most babies were named San.
- The names of Generation XMost people named San alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with SMost given first.