Sam

Meaning: Name of God; also glossed 'God has set' or 'asked of God'
Origin: Variant of Samuel (from Hebrew)

Boy's name · #647 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Few names move less than Sam — on the books since 1880, #647 in 2025, and dependable in between. Roughly 127,000 boys share it. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Sam is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 30 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

Sam is especially popular in the Netherlands.

#8 in Netherlands (2025) · #14 in Sweden (2025) · #48 in Finland (other-lang.) (2025) · #50 in Ireland (2025) · #131 in Belgium (2025) · #147 in Scotland (2025) · #158 in N. Ireland (2025) · #238 in Switzerland (2025) · #246 in Austria (2025) · #284 in New Zealand (2025) · #289 in Norway (2025) · #296 in France (2025) and 3 more.

Famous Sams

Sam Worthington — Australian actor
Sam Harris — American author, philosopher and neuroscientist (born 1967)
Sam Altman — American venture capitalist
Sam Smith — British singer-songwriter
Sam Rockwell — American actor

In stories & tradition

Yosemite Sam — Looney Tunes (film series)
Sam Winchester — Supernatural (TV series)
Sam Fisher — Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (book)

What Sams become

Among 4,446 notable people named Sam:

Sports figures appear 2.18× more often than among typical names — e.g. Sam Allardyce, English association football player and manager.

Similar names: Sammy · Ben · Zack · Ira · Hiram · Reuben

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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