ninan.org

Samuel

Boys' name · Millennial-era perennial

Living in the US
~634,300 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#18 among boys
Births in 2025
8,342 823,085 since 1880
Typical age
27 years, median

Samuel popularity over time

Samuel rank by birth year, 1880–2025Samuel ranked #17 in 1880 and #18 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #17, in 1880.#100#1818901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Samuel in 2001 than in any other year — 14,845 of them. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. Samuel has spent 146 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #18, on 8,342 births. Compared with 2015, births are down 24%.

Babies named Samuel per yearPeaks at 14,845 births in 2001.14,845 in 2001018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Samuel?

An estimated 634,300 living Americans are called Samuel. That is out of 823,085 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Samuel?

Median age among living Samuels: 27. Most living bearers were born in the 2000s. By the site’s era rules that makes Samuel a millennial-era perennial name.

Your Samuel

Ages of living people named SamuelHalf of living Samuels are older than 27 and half younger.median 27020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Samuel is most common

Samuel is 2.3× as common in District of Columbia as it is nationally. Wyoming, Alaska and Vermont follow.

Where Samuel is used more than average5 states use the name Samuel more than the national average.Alaska: 2.1× the national rateAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: 2.1× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: 1.8× the national rateMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: 2.1× the national rateWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 2.3× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Samuel is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 387 2.3×
Wyoming 125 2.1×
Alaska 248 2.1×
Vermont 129 2.1×
Montana 290 1.8×

Samuel in England and Wales

ONS recorded 768 births named Samuel in 2025, ranking it #66. That is 39% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Samuel comes from

From Latin Samuēl, from Ancient Greek Σαμουήλ, from Biblical Hebrew שְׁמוּאֵל.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Samuel

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Samuel Beckett Irish writer 1906–1989 140
Samuel Johnson English writer and lexicographer 1709–1784 134
Samuel Taylor Coleridge English poet, literary critic and philosopher 1772–1834 122
Samuel Morse American inventor and painter 1791–1872 98
Samuel L. Jackson American actor 1948 98
Samuel Eto'o Cameroonian association football player 1981 91
Samuel P. Huntington American political scientist 1927–2008 80
Samuel de Champlain 16/17th-century French explorer of North America 1567–1635 72
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 1,398 in 1911 to 2,608 in 1912 — 1.9 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/samuel.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).