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The surname Sampson

A surname, carried by 39,277 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈsæmp.sən/ 2 syllables Soundex S512 Also a first name

Sampson: #886 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Sampson #886, 39,277 people Sampson: #886 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Sampson #886, 39,277 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Sampson is more common than 99.5% of them.

Origin

A variant of Samson.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 39,277 people named Sampson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 7,861 Americans. That is up 5.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 37,234.

#886
rank among US surnames
39,277
people in 2010
13
per 100,000 Americans
+5.5%
change since 2000 (was #844)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#877Ventura39,5807,801
#878Avery39,5647,804
#879Pugh39,5597,805
#880Mayer39,5557,805
#881Bender39,5517,806
#882Shepard39,4307,830
#883McMahon39,4117,834

Who is named Sampson

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

60% of people named Sampson identified as white (not Hispanic), 30% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.9% as American Indian and Alaska Native.

  • White (not Hispanic) 60%
  • Black (not Hispanic) 30%
  • American Indian and Alaska Native 3.9%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
  • Two or more races 2.4%
  • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Sampsons

13 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Cesár Sampson
    Austrian singer–songwriter, born 1983
  • Ralph Sampson
    American basketball player (born 1960)
  • Holly Sampson
    American actress and pornographic performer, born 1973
  • Angus Sampson
    Australian actor, born 1979
  • Steve Sampson
    American soccer manager, born 1957
  • JaKarr Sampson
    American basketball player (born 1993)
  • Flem D. Sampson
    42nd Governor of Kentucky (1875–1967)
  • Brandon Sampson
    American basketball player (born 1997)
  • Ed Sampson
    American ice hockey player (1921-1974)
  • Teddy Sampson
    American actress, 1895–1970
  • John A. Sampson
    American gynecologist (1873–1946)
  • Edgar Sampson
    American jazz composer, arranger, saxophonist, and violinist (1907–1973)

Notable Sampsons come mostly from the United States (11), Austria (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Sampson

Sampson has the Soundex code S512, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S512.

Questions

Where does the surname Sampson come from?
A variant of Samson.
How common is the surname Sampson?
39,277 people in the United States had the surname Sampson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 7,861 Americans. It ranked 886th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Sampson?
In the 2010 Census, 60% of people named Sampson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 30% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Sampson?
Cesár Sampson, Austrian singer–songwriter, followed by Ralph Sampson.
Where is the surname Sampson most common?
Wikidata records people named Sampson in the United States, Austria and Australia.
How do you pronounce Sampson?
Sampson is /ˈsæmp.sən/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Sampson getting more or less common?
More common. 37,234 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 39,277 in 2010, up 5.5%.
Is Sampson also a first name?
Yes. Sampson is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.