Sam

What Sam means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Sam yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1918, with 2,506 babies; 428 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Sam?

US: Falling: down from #546 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #177 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1900, when 821 boys got the name (#34 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,991 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,365 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 634 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MT (1.59 per 1,000 boys), UT (0.71 per 1,000 boys), NV (0.62 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Sam is #647 in the US and #363 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 94.7% of US babies named Sam were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Zaim11 US · 15 E&W
• Saim10 US · 10 E&W
• Saam7 US
• Cem0 US · 6 E&W
• Saaim0 US · 4 E&W
• Sem0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Sam

Boys

• Joel#219Editor’s note Down from #158 in 2015 to #219 in 2025 in the US
• Victor#209“conqueror”^*
• Alexander#30“to defend + man”^*
• Anthony#46“flower”^*
• Nathan#63“gave”^*
• Kevin#221“dear birth/person”^*

For a sister

• Molly#196Editor’s note Down from #144 in 2015 to #196 in 2025 in the US
• Andrea#235Feminine form of Andreas, meaning “manly”^*
• Anna#107Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #44 in 2015, #107 in 2025
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Emily#34“rival, emulator”^*
• Katherine#186Variant of Catherine, possibly meaning “each of the two”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Sam’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.