Samael
Masculine · “venom of God”
Samael is a name from Jewish angelology, and it belongs to a figure the tradition is genuinely divided about — an angel in some texts, an accuser in others, and something much darker in later ones.
How old is the name Samael?
Samael first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Samael is a kid of about 5 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Samael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Samael most popular?
Samael peaked in 2022, reaching #2299 nationally. Today it ranks #3314, 1,015 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Samael
Samael appears in Jewish texts of late antiquity and the medieval period in shifting roles — a heavenly accuser in some, the angel of death in others, and a figure of outright opposition in the kabbalistic literature. He is not a biblical character; the name enters the tradition after the Hebrew Bible was closed. Its use as a given name is very recent, chiefly in Latin America and the United States, and it draws on the figure's presence in modern fiction and games as much as on the older texts.
Meaningscholars disagree
venom of God, or blindness of God
The second element is the ordinary Hebrew word for God and is not in doubt. The first is read either as a word for poison or venom, or as one connected to blindness; both readings are old, and neither is settled. The -el ending is the same one that closes Michael and Gabriel.
Pronouncing Samael
SAM-ay-el
Three syllables, first stressed. Hebrew and Spanish both give sah-mah-EL, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Samael
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
- 1998
- Most boys named
- 202262 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2299reached in 2022
- Change vs 2024
- −20.5%35 in 2025, from 44
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.
Samael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Sammael in Hebrew — spelling variant
- Samael in Spanish — same name
- Samael in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Arizona.
Samaels among us
people named Samael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 48,802 born in 2025 was named Samael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Yobani test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Samael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Yobani climbed just as high around 1996, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Yobani's path sketches the road Samael is walking now.
Samael 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
Where Samael is headed
Samael should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Samael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Samael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Sam sits inside it as a completely ordinary short form at any age.
- The -el ending puts it in visible company with Michael, Gabriel and Daniel.
- It has a documented history in a real body of religious literature.
- The figure it names is an adversarial one in most of the tradition, and people who know the texts will say so.
- Modern fantasy and games use the name for villains, which is where many will have met it.
- The meaning is contested between two readings and neither is comfortable.
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What they receive
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Samael
Masculine · #3314 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Samaels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Samael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Samael in 2025?
- Samael ranks #3314 among US boy names in 2025, with 35 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Samael?
- About 1 in every 48,802 US boys born in 2025 was named Samael — 35 in all.
- Will my child share the name Samael with classmates?
- Samael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Samael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rainier#3314 · Coulter#3314 · Caio#3314 · Kaydon#3314 · Daksh#3314 · Kree#3314 · Calen#3314 · Mathis#3314
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Samael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Samael and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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