# Sam (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/sam/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Cantonese, a romanization of 岑 (sam⁴) or 沈 (cam⁴ / zam³).

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Chinese |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 12,053 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,974 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 25,616 people |
| Change since 2000 | +26% (9,600 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈsæm/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Who carries it

Share of people named Sam in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 12% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 28% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 5.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 34% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 18% |
| Two or more races | 3.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Sam in the United States.

## People named Sam

- Michael Sam, American football player

## Similar surnames

Saum, Sami, Sama, Samayoa, San, Sham, Shami, Sweeney, Snow, Sheehan, Swain, Sun.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.