Saul
Saul was given to 535 boys in 2025, #557 among boys’ names; 43,362 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 35,900 Americans named Saul and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 25 years old and half are between 16 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Saul by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Saul mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Saul is “a male given name from Hebrew.”
Borrowed from Old English Saul. Doublet of Silas, which derived from Aramaic.
/sɔːl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Saul?
#557 among boys’ names, 2025
Saul fell from #495 in 2015 to #557 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born held at 0.31 per 1,000.
1,120 babies in 2006, the peak
Saul peaked in 2006, when 1,120 boys were given it, #298 among boys’ names. The 535 births of 2025 are 48% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 535 | #557 | 0.31 |
| 2024 | 531 | #559 | 0.31 |
| 2023 | 515 | #570 | 0.30 |
| 2022 | 581 | #513 | 0.33 |
| 2021 | 513 | #556 | 0.29 |
| 2020 | 484 | #575 | 0.28 |
| 2019 | 538 | #533 | 0.30 |
| 2018 | 534 | #531 | 0.29 |
| 2017 | 605 | #485 | 0.33 |
| 2016 | 560 | #527 | 0.30 |
Every recorded year (143)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 592 | #495 | 0.31 |
| 2014 | 664 | #450 | 0.35 |
| 2013 | 656 | #440 | 0.35 |
| 2012 | 690 | #414 | 0.36 |
| 2011 | 715 | #399 | 0.38 |
| 2010 | 761 | #379 | 0.40 |
| 2009 | 867 | #356 | 0.44 |
| 2008 | 999 | #329 | 0.49 |
| 2007 | 1,070 | #308 | 0.52 |
| 2006 | 1,120 | #298 | 0.54 |
| 2005 | 1,113 | #295 | 0.56 |
| 2004 | 1,104 | #289 | 0.56 |
| 2003 | 1,072 | #292 | 0.54 |
| 2002 | 1,028 | #289 | 0.53 |
| 2001 | 1,103 | #278 | 0.57 |
| 2000 | 1,059 | #287 | 0.54 |
| 1999 | 891 | #318 | 0.46 |
| 1998 | 916 | #307 | 0.48 |
| 1997 | 1,045 | #270 | 0.55 |
| 1996 | 869 | #306 | 0.46 |
| 1995 | 713 | #346 | 0.37 |
| 1994 | 598 | #389 | 0.31 |
| 1993 | 580 | #399 | 0.30 |
| 1992 | 616 | #375 | 0.31 |
| 1991 | 593 | #381 | 0.29 |
| 1990 | 567 | #408 | 0.28 |
| 1989 | 522 | #410 | 0.26 |
| 1988 | 435 | #433 | 0.23 |
| 1987 | 429 | #422 | 0.23 |
| 1986 | 411 | #424 | 0.22 |
| 1985 | 408 | #426 | 0.22 |
| 1984 | 389 | #419 | 0.22 |
| 1983 | 380 | #421 | 0.21 |
| 1982 | 361 | #449 | 0.20 |
| 1981 | 411 | #402 | 0.23 |
| 1980 | 363 | #432 | 0.20 |
| 1979 | 351 | #427 | 0.20 |
| 1978 | 291 | #478 | 0.18 |
| 1977 | 323 | #446 | 0.20 |
| 1976 | 295 | #457 | 0.19 |
| 1975 | 279 | #479 | 0.18 |
| 1974 | 267 | #491 | 0.17 |
| 1973 | 250 | #494 | 0.16 |
| 1972 | 244 | #506 | 0.15 |
| 1971 | 193 | #598 | 0.11 |
| 1970 | 219 | #551 | 0.12 |
| 1969 | 193 | #565 | 0.11 |
| 1968 | 159 | #605 | 0.09 |
| 1967 | 159 | #597 | 0.09 |
| 1966 | 135 | #640 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 167 | #590 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 123 | #697 | 0.06 |
| 1963 | 142 | #656 | 0.07 |
| 1962 | 144 | #646 | 0.07 |
| 1961 | 168 | #613 | 0.08 |
| 1960 | 129 | #693 | 0.06 |
| 1959 | 137 | #657 | 0.06 |
| 1958 | 154 | #619 | 0.07 |
| 1957 | 138 | #653 | 0.06 |
| 1956 | 115 | #690 | 0.05 |
| 1955 | 118 | #674 | 0.06 |
| 1954 | 121 | #661 | 0.06 |
| 1953 | 117 | #655 | 0.06 |
| 1952 | 103 | #690 | 0.05 |
| 1951 | 123 | #639 | 0.07 |
| 1950 | 115 | #649 | 0.06 |
| 1949 | 103 | #676 | 0.06 |
| 1948 | 104 | #664 | 0.06 |
| 1947 | 112 | #655 | 0.06 |
| 1946 | 101 | #641 | 0.06 |
| 1945 | 85 | #656 | 0.06 |
| 1944 | 78 | #706 | 0.06 |
| 1943 | 97 | #648 | 0.07 |
| 1942 | 107 | #610 | 0.08 |
| 1941 | 97 | #612 | 0.08 |
| 1940 | 88 | #640 | 0.08 |
| 1939 | 98 | #580 | 0.09 |
| 1938 | 123 | #526 | 0.11 |
| 1937 | 113 | #549 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 120 | #517 | 0.12 |
| 1935 | 109 | #552 | 0.10 |
| 1934 | 130 | #511 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 131 | #490 | 0.13 |
| 1932 | 122 | #531 | 0.12 |
| 1931 | 138 | #490 | 0.13 |
| 1930 | 149 | #487 | 0.14 |
| 1929 | 156 | #471 | 0.15 |
| 1928 | 179 | #450 | 0.16 |
| 1927 | 189 | #446 | 0.17 |
| 1926 | 189 | #440 | 0.17 |
| 1925 | 206 | #419 | 0.18 |
| 1924 | 213 | #419 | 0.19 |
| 1923 | 225 | #398 | 0.21 |
| 1922 | 204 | #420 | 0.19 |
| 1921 | 229 | #403 | 0.21 |
| 1920 | 206 | #415 | 0.19 |
| 1919 | 232 | #382 | 0.24 |
| 1918 | 239 | #388 | 0.24 |
| 1917 | 228 | #373 | 0.25 |
| 1916 | 222 | #366 | 0.25 |
| 1915 | 207 | #374 | 0.24 |
| 1914 | 162 | #373 | 0.25 |
| 1913 | 148 | #339 | 0.29 |
| 1912 | 125 | #340 | 0.29 |
| 1911 | 57 | #371 | 0.25 |
| 1910 | 42 | #419 | 0.22 |
| 1909 | 41 | #377 | 0.25 |
| 1908 | 35 | #402 | 0.23 |
| 1907 | 36 | #378 | 0.25 |
| 1906 | 18 | #563 | 0.14 |
| 1905 | 12 | #733 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 26 | #415 | 0.20 |
| 1903 | 17 | #547 | 0.14 |
| 1902 | 24 | #424 | 0.20 |
| 1901 | 13 | #588 | 0.12 |
| 1900 | 23 | #487 | 0.15 |
| 1899 | 17 | #475 | 0.16 |
| 1898 | 11 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1897 | 11 | #674 | 0.10 |
| 1896 | 11 | #716 | 0.09 |
| 1895 | 13 | #604 | 0.11 |
| 1894 | 16 | #517 | 0.14 |
| 1893 | 9 | #760 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 11 | #678 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 9 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1890 | 7 | #870 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 20 | #427 | 0.17 |
| 1887 | 11 | #578 | 0.11 |
| 1886 | 10 | #638 | 0.09 |
| 1885 | 11 | #600 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 5 | #1,019 | 0.05 |
| 1882 | 15 | #486 | 0.13 |
| 1880 | 15 | #476 | 0.14 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Saul a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Saul has been given almost only to boys: 74 girls in 143 years of records.
Girls and boys named Saul: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Saul, and how old are they?
35,900 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 43,362 Americans ever recorded as Saul. The median Saul alive today is 25 years old; half are between 16 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 51,866 people named Saul (121 women and girls, 51,745 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 33,786 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.5 times 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 | 354 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 1,590 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,470 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 7,940 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 15,300 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 7,250 |
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 Saul born?
The states with the most babies named Saul are California, Texas and New York, with 55% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 117 | #313 | 2.4× |
| Texas | 113 | #336 | 2.3× |
| New York | 32 | #512 | 1.5× |
| Arizona | 32 | #256 | 1.7× |
| Florida | 24 | #679 | 0.6× |
| New Jersey | 18 | #447 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 16 | #599 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 16 | #646 | 0.5× |
| Washington | 14 | #527 | 0.8× |
| Tennessee | 12 | #630 | 0.2× |
Where Saul is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Saul is most over-represented in California: since 1910 it was given 2.4 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 Saul 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 7 names spelled alike, given to 50,773 babies since 1880, Saul is the most given (85% of them). In 2025 it was given to 535 of their 688 babies (78%), 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 Saul
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 Saul and names like it
- Compare Saul and SalBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sSaul peaked in 2006.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Saul since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Saul: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2006The year the most babies were named Saul.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Saul alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with SMost given first.