Sameera
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "sociable, talkative companion".
Name Census estimates that about 811 living Americans carry the first name Sameera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sameera today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sameera births was 2016 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sameera. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Sameera with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
811
~ 1 in 422,632 Americans
Peak year
2016
38 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,857
Tracked since 1977
Census
Sameera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,459 people with the first name Sameera, which placed it at #9,499 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
#9,499
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
64.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sameera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sameera is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.0%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Sameera 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 Sameera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander64.0% · 934
- White16.0% · 234
- Black or African American11.2% · 163
- Two or more races6.2% · 90
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Sameera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sameera from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 266 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sameera remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sameera 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 Sameera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sameeras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Sameera, while New Jersey, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sameera
The name Sameera has its origins in the Arabic language. It is believed to have derived from the Arabic word "samirah," which means "pleasant conversation" or "entertaining talk." The name gained popularity in the Middle East and parts of South Asia during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sameera can be found in Arabic literature from the 9th century CE. It is mentioned in several works of poetry and prose from that era, often used to describe a woman with a charming and captivating personality.
In Islamic history, there are references to a woman named Sameera who lived during the 7th century CE. She was known for her intelligence and wisdom, and is said to have been a respected scholar and advisor to the early Muslim community.
Throughout the centuries, the name Sameera has been borne by various notable figures across the Middle East and South Asia. One prominent example is Sameera Moussa (1917-1952), an Egyptian nuclear physicist who made significant contributions to the field of atomic energy research.
Another historical figure with the name Sameera is Sameera Reddy (born 1983), an Indian actress and model who has appeared in numerous Bollywood films and television shows. She is known for her work in movies like "Vaaranam Aayiram" and "Tezz."
In the realm of literature, Sameera Khan (born 1976) is a renowned Pakistani writer and poet. Her works explore themes of identity, feminism, and social issues, and she has received several prestigious awards for her contributions to Urdu literature.
Sameera Fazili (born 1972) is a Kashmiri activist and advocate for human rights. She has worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the plight of Kashmiri civilians caught in the conflict between India and Pakistan, and has been recognized for her efforts both nationally and internationally.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Sameera throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of the regions they hailed from.
People
Sameera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sameera 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
Sameera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sameera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 811 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sameera 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 422,632 US residents.
Is Sameera a common name?
We classify Sameera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 827 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sameera most popular?
The single biggest year for Sameera was 2016, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sameera is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sameera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,459 people with the name Sameera, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,499 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 Sameera 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 Sameera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sameera leans strongly female. 1,406 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 56 male bearers (3.8%). 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 Sameera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sameera is Asian/Pacific Islander at 64.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.0%) and Black (11.2%). 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 Sameera most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sameera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.0% (934 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 Sameera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sameera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sameera 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 Sameera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sameera 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 Sameera 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 have Sameera as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.