Samuel Boy
How popular is Samuel?
#18 boy name in 2025
8,334 baby boys were named Samuel in the US in 2025, making it the 18th most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
Samuel popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #18 for boys (▼ 1 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 8,334 boys, 8 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-24% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #23 in 2015, #25 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2001 (14,813 boys) |
| Highest rank | #17 in 1880 (6 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 6% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Samuel counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Samuel family of names ranked #22 for boys in 2025, with 8,376 babies in all.
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Samuel is most popular
Babies named Samuel per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- District of Columbia: 10.6 per 1,000 (157 boys)
- Alaska: 9.0 per 1,000 (107 boys)
- Wyoming: 8.8 per 1,000 (51 boys)
- Vermont: 8.8 per 1,000 (55 boys)
- Alabama: 7.9 per 1,000 (865 boys)
Samuel by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 9,129 | #17 |
| 1890s | 7,857 | #20 |
| 1900s | 8,149 | #30 |
| 1910s | 34,166 | #30 |
| 1920s | 43,362 | #43 |
| 1930s | 32,135 | #55 |
| 1940s | 43,129 | #59 |
| 1950s | 53,767 | #62 |
| 1960s | 44,247 | #64 |
| 1970s | 48,099 | #55 |
| 1980s | 73,456 | #45 |
| 1990s | 125,597 | #27 |
| 2000s | 138,647 | #21 |
| 2010s | 108,128 | #21 |
| 2020s | 50,328 | #17 |
Boy names about as popular as Samuel
Questions
- Is Samuel a boy or girl name?
- Samuel is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Samuel were boys.
- How popular is the name Samuel?
- 8,334 baby boys were named Samuel in the US in 2025, making it the 18th most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
- When was Samuel most popular?
- Samuel peaked in 2001, when 14,813 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #17, held for 6 years starting in 1880.
- How many people are named Samuel?
- 823,085 babies have been named Samuel in the US since 1880. We estimate about 631,954 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 28.
- Where is Samuel most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Samuel was most common in District of Columbia, at 10.6 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.