Sam
Feminine · “God has heard”
Sam is given to boys far more often — 127,234 boys against 1,576 girls since 1880. See Sam as a boy name
Sam is a short form that has been standing on its own for a very long time, and its American record for girls goes back further than most people expect — the peak is 1890, decades before Samantha became a common name. Three letters, one syllable, and no ambiguity anywhere.
How old is the name Sam?
Sam first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Sam alive today was born around 1944, making them about 81 years old. About 800 people named Sam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Sam most popular?
Sam peaked in 1890, reaching #1099 nationally. Today it ranks #5238, 4,139 places below that high. See the whole 1890 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Šĕmûʾēl to Sam
The story of Sam
Samuel was one of the standard Puritan names and Sam its universal clipping. For girls the picture is stranger: Samantha is recorded in the American colonies from the eighteenth century, is used steadily in the nineteenth, and produced Sam and Sammie as everyday forms that clerks then wrote on birth certificates. The 1890 peak belongs to that period, alongside Willie, Georgie and Frankie — the era when a girl might legally be called by a name English now reads as a man's. Bewitched put Samantha into the top ten from 1964, which revived the full name, but Sam as a girl's given name had already had its American century.
Meaningscholars disagree
God has heard, or name of God
Sam serves as a short form of Samuel and of Samantha. Hebrew Šĕmûʾēl is read either as God has heard, from šāmaʿ, or as name of God, from šēm — the ambiguity is ancient and unresolved. Samantha's own origin is separately uncertain: it appears in America in the eighteenth century with no European precedent, and a formation on Samuel with a Greek-looking ending is the usual guess.
How the name formed
- Šĕmûʾēl
- Samuel
- Samantha
- Sam
Related forms: שְׁמוּאֵל · Sammie
Pronouncing Sam
SAM
One syllable, exactly as it looks. There is no alternative saying in any language that uses it.
Nicknames for Sam
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 191936 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1099reached in 1890
- Change vs 2022
- +33.3%24 in 2025, from 18
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Sam in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- שְׁמוּאֵל in Hebrew — related form
- Sammie in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Sams among us
people named Sam are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 66,969 born in 2025 was named Sam
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Sam sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Sam beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Sam in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable, about as portable as a name can be.
- It works in every English-speaking country without explanation.
- Samantha and Samuel both stand behind it as formal options.
- It reads as masculine to most Americans, whatever the record says.
- It is a short form, and people will ask what it is short for.
- There is no way to make it longer or more formal without changing it.
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What they receive
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Sam
Feminine · #5238 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Sams are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Sam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Sam in 2025?
- Sam ranks #5238 among US girl names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Sam?
- About 1 in every 66,969 US girls born in 2025 was named Sam — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Sam with classmates?
- Sam will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Sam
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Irena#5238 · Esma#5238 · Dagny#5238 · Venice#5238 · Lisbeth#5238 · Loralie#5238 · Alania#5238 · Erma#5238
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Sam? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Sam and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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