# Sami (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sami/  
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 and girls |
| Origin | Arabic |
| Meaning | “high”, “exalted” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 6,727 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,303 / 1,424 (21% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,838, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Derived from Arabic سَامِي (sāmī), from the informal pronunciation of سَامٍ (sāmin, “high, exalted”).

## 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 | 8,550 |
| 2012 | 25 | 5,533 |
| 2013 | 21 | 6,214 |
| 2014 | 21 | 6,174 |
| 2015 | 16 | 7,549 |
| 2016 | 23 | 5,768 |
| 2017 | 16 | 7,380 |
| 2018 | 26 | 5,126 |
| 2019 | 17 | 6,968 |
| 2020 | 28 | 4,735 |
| 2021 | 16 | 7,205 |
| 2022 | 32 | 4,453 |
| 2023 | 27 | 4,976 |
| 2024 | 21 | 5,929 |
| 2025 | 27 | 4,969 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 144 | 1,218 |
| 2012 | 124 | 1,366 |
| 2013 | 134 | 1,294 |
| 2014 | 148 | 1,235 |
| 2015 | 168 | 1,133 |
| 2016 | 164 | 1,165 |
| 2017 | 174 | 1,113 |
| 2018 | 160 | 1,192 |
| 2019 | 122 | 1,440 |
| 2020 | 137 | 1,319 |
| 2021 | 137 | 1,356 |
| 2022 | 123 | 1,476 |
| 2023 | 147 | 1,308 |
| 2024 | 156 | 1,269 |
| 2025 | 193 | 1,114 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 4 | 3,174 |
| 1999 | 3 | 3,900 |
| 2001 | 3 | 3,998 |
| 2003 | 3 | 4,373 |
| 2008 | 3 | 5,545 |
| 2010 | 7 | 3,156 |
| 2013 | 4 | 4,739 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,927 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 149 | 295 |
| 2012 | 145 | 313 |
| 2013 | 152 | 293 |
| 2014 | 159 | 291 |
| 2015 | 143 | 322 |
| 2016 | 152 | 318 |
| 2017 | 150 | 326 |
| 2018 | 108 | 397 |
| 2019 | 148 | 320 |
| 2020 | 142 | 324 |
| 2021 | 141 | 324 |
| 2022 | 138 | 320 |
| 2023 | 122 | 347 |
| 2024 | 151 | 297 |
| 2025 | 168 | 271 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: سَامِي
- Turkish: Sami

## People named Sami

- Sami Khedira, German association football player
- Sami Hyypiä, Finnish footballer and manager
- Sami Frashëri, Albanian writer, philosopher, playwright and activist (1850–1904)
- Sami Al-Jaber, former Saudi Arabian footballer and manager
- Sami Vänskä, Finnish musician
- Sami Al-Najei, association football player
- Sami Jauhojärvi, Finnish cross-country skier
- Sami Gayle, American child actress
- Sami Lepistö, Finnish ice hockey player
- Sami Bouajila, French actor
- Sami Frey, French actor
- Sami al-Henaaui, coup leader and the leader of the military junta (1898-1950)

## 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.