Samson
Masculine · “From Hebrew shemesh”
Samson comes out of the Hebrew Bible, where the name belongs to a judge of Israel whose story is told in the Book of Judges — and it comes from the Hebrew word for sun. It traveled through Greek and Latin as Sampson, was carried through medieval Europe partly on the reputation of Saint Samson of Dol, a sixth-century bishop in Brittany, and gave English one of its familiar surnames. Two firm syllables, both stressed clearly, ending on that soft -son that so many English names already end on.
How old is the name Samson?
Samson first appears in US birth records in 1892 — 133 years ago. The typical Samson is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 12,000 people named Samson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Samson most popular?
Samson peaked in 2025, reaching #477 nationally. Today it ranks #477, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Shimshon to Samson
The story of Samson
The name begins as Hebrew Shimshon, borne by the long-haired judge of the Book of Judges whose strength, blindness and final act in the Philistine temple make one of the most-retold episodes in scripture. The Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Sampsōn, and Latin passed that spelling into medieval Europe, where it attached to Saint Samson of Dol, a sixth-century bishop honored in Brittany, Wales and Cornwall. That saint kept the name alive in Britain well past the Middle Ages, long enough for it to settle into English surnames as Samson and Sampson. Milton gave it a second literary life in 1671 with the dramatic poem Samson Agonistes, and the name has been read, sung and staged steadily ever since.
Meaning
From Hebrew shemesh, "sun" — often read as "little sun" or "of the sun"
The root shemesh is not disputed; the -on ending is generally taken as a diminutive or affectionate suffix, which is where the "little sun" rendering comes from.
How the name formed
- Shimshon
- Sampsōn
- Sampson
- Samson
Related forms: Shimshon · Sansón · Sansone · Sansão · Samson · Sampson
Pronouncing Samson
SAM-suhn
Stress on the first syllable. In Spanish and Italian the stress moves to the end: san-SON, san-SO-neh.
Nicknames for Samson
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
- 1892
- Most boys named
- 2025639 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #477reached in 2025
- Change vs 2023
- +23.6%639 in 2025, from 517
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.
Samson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Shimshon in Hebrew — transliteration
- Sansón in Spanish — same name
- Sansone in Italian — same name
- Sansão in Portuguese — same name
- Samson in French — same name
- Sampson in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Samsons among us
people named Samson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,673 born in 2025 was named Samson
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 Nigel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Samson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nigel climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nigel's path sketches the road Samson is walking now.
Samson is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Samson is headed
Samson should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Samson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Samson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Comes with Sam already built in — a short form in continuous English use for centuries, so no nickname has to be invented.
- The spelling is familiar to anyone who has read the Bible or met the surname, so it is usually written correctly on the first try.
- A documented record stretching from ancient Hebrew through Greek, Latin, Breton and English without a break.
- Works in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French with only a shift of stress or ending — useful in a bilingual family.
- Rising rather than fading, so it reads as current without being one of a crowd in the classroom.
- The biblical story is inescapable: strength, long hair, Delilah and the haircut. Expect jokes about muscles or about needing a trim, mostly good-natured, mostly from adults.
- Sam is shared with Samuel, which is far more common. He may spend some of his life clarifying which longer name the Sam belongs to.
- Sampson with a p is a well-established variant, so the spelling will sometimes need saying aloud.
- It is climbing, not static. A boy given it now will likely meet more Samsons than an older bearer ever did — still not many, but not none.
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What they receive
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Samson
Masculine · #477 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Samsons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,000 people named Samson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Samson in 2025?
- Samson ranks #477 among US boy names in 2025, with 639 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Samson?
- About 1 in every 2,673 US boys born in 2025 was named Samson — 639 in all.
- Will my child share the name Samson with classmates?
- Samson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Samson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Royal#476 · Noel#478 · Cassian#479 · Tanner#475 · Ford#474 · Ruben#480 · Zayne#473 · Makai#481
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Samson? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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