Samari
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "protected by God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,098 living Americans carry the first name Samari. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Samari today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samari births was 2008 (130 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samari. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Samari is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 163,372 Americans
Peak year
2008
130 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,396
Tracked since 1990
Census
Samari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,577 people with the first name Samari, which placed it at #8,997 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,997
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samari is Black at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.2%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Samari described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Samari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.3% · 1,061
- Hispanic or Latino21.2% · 335
- Two or more races7.0% · 110
- White3.4% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Samari
Samari is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,122 total registrations, 675 (31.8%) were male and 1,447 (68.2%) were female.
Samari as a male name
- Ranked #3,666 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (50 births)
Samari as a female name
- Ranked #2,396 in 2024
- 76 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (93 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Samari on both sides of the split. Of the 1,570 people counted with this name, 489 were male (31.1%) and 1,081 were female (68.9%).
Popularity
Samari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samari from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 906 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Samari remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samari by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Samari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samaris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Florida, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Samari, while Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Samari
The name Samari has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "samara," which means "battle" or "war." This suggests that the name may have been given to warriors or soldiers in ancient India.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Samari can be found in the epic Hindu text, the Mahabharata. Here, it is used as the name of a fierce warrior who fought alongside the Pandava brothers in the great battle of Kurukshetra. This association with bravery and martial prowess may have contributed to the name's enduring popularity.
In the centuries that followed, the name Samari spread across various regions of the Indian subcontinent, with variations in spelling and pronunciation emerging in different languages and cultures. For instance, in Tamil, the name is sometimes written as "Samarai," while in Bengali, it may be spelled as "Shomari."
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Samari was Samari Gowda (1506-1572), a revered ruler of the Gowda dynasty in what is now the state of Karnataka, India. Known for his military achievements and administrative reforms, Samari Gowda's reign was marked by prosperity and stability.
Another famous figure with the name Samari was Samari Suren (1875-1943), an Armenian writer and poet who played a significant role in the Armenian literary renaissance of the early 20th century. His works often explored themes of national identity and the struggles of the Armenian people.
In more recent times, Samari Parthiban (1958-present) is a renowned Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who has made significant contributions to the Tamil film industry. He is particularly known for his thought-provoking and socially conscious films that explore complex human emotions and societal issues.
Samari Souza (1981-present) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and former UFC fighter who enjoyed a successful career in the sport. Known for his aggressive fighting style and knockout power, he was a fan favorite during his time in the octagon.
Lastly, Samari Rolle (1976-present) is a former American football cornerback who played in the NFL for 12 seasons, primarily with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XXXV in 2001.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Samari
People
Samari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samari as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Samari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,098 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samari going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 163,372 US residents.
Is Samari a common name?
We classify Samari as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samari most popular?
The single biggest year for Samari was 2008, when 130 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samari is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,577 people with the name Samari, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,997 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Samari in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Samari?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Samari on both sides of the split. Of the 1,570 people counted with this name, 489 were male (31.1%) and 1,081 were female (68.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Samari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samari is Black at 67.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.2%) and Two or More Races (7.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Samari most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Samari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.3% (1,061 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Samari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samari a female name?
Yes, 68.2% of people registered as Samari in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Samari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samari in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Samari can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Samari?
Find out how many people have the name Samari on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.