# Sam (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sam/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsæm/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Sams |
| US babies named this | 128,810 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 127,234 / 1,576 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 21,113, 1996 to 2025 |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 14 | 8,548 |
| 2012 | 5 | 19,058 |
| 2013 | 14 | 8,504 |
| 2014 | 13 | 8,881 |
| 2015 | 12 | 9,393 |
| 2016 | 17 | 7,179 |
| 2017 | 12 | 9,254 |
| 2018 | 13 | 8,533 |
| 2019 | 14 | 8,072 |
| 2020 | 12 | 8,865 |
| 2021 | 19 | 6,376 |
| 2022 | 18 | 6,668 |
| 2023 | 11 | 9,498 |
| 2024 | 18 | 6,602 |
| 2025 | 24 | 5,370 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 546 | 481 |
| 2012 | 510 | 518 |
| 2013 | 480 | 553 |
| 2014 | 523 | 536 |
| 2015 | 523 | 547 |
| 2016 | 478 | 580 |
| 2017 | 528 | 537 |
| 2018 | 453 | 604 |
| 2019 | 443 | 618 |
| 2020 | 402 | 655 |
| 2021 | 412 | 659 |
| 2022 | 418 | 658 |
| 2023 | 403 | 676 |
| 2024 | 425 | 650 |
| 2025 | 428 | 647 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 9 | 1,802 |
| 1998 | 10 | 1,697 |
| 1999 | 5 | 2,770 |
| 2000 | 7 | 2,167 |
| 2001 | 8 | 2,023 |
| 2003 | 8 | 2,191 |
| 2004 | 7 | 2,530 |
| 2005 | 12 | 1,796 |
| 2007 | 10 | 2,233 |
| 2008 | 5 | 3,860 |
| 2010 | 4 | 4,688 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2022 | 3 | 5,669 |
| 2023 | 5 | 4,056 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 579 | 112 |
| 2012 | 522 | 124 |
| 2013 | 465 | 128 |
| 2014 | 405 | 140 |
| 2015 | 330 | 177 |
| 2016 | 300 | 186 |
| 2017 | 263 | 203 |
| 2018 | 261 | 207 |
| 2019 | 197 | 249 |
| 2020 | 181 | 260 |
| 2021 | 161 | 293 |
| 2022 | 158 | 284 |
| 2023 | 142 | 310 |
| 2024 | 131 | 334 |
| 2025 | 115 | 363 |

## People named Sam

- Sam Worthington, Australian and English actor (born 1976)
- Sam Rockwell, American actor (born 1968)
- Sam Houston, American statesman, politician, and soldier (1793-1863)
- Sam Shepard, American playwright and actor (1943–2017)
- Sam Peckinpah, American film director (1925–1984)
- Sam Elliott, American actor (born 1944)
- Sam Waterston, American actor, producer and director (born 1940)
- Sam Claflin, British actor
- Sam Allardyce, English association football player and manager
- Sam Querrey, American tennis player (born 1987)
- Sam Johnstone, English association football player (born 1993)
- Sam Hinds, 5th Prime Minister of Guyana

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.