Sami
A masculine Arabic name meaning "sublime" or "elevated".
Name Census estimates that about 6,317 living Americans carry the first name Sami. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Sami today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sami births was 2017 (190 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sami. 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 Sami with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.3K
~ 1 in 54,259 Americans
Peak year
2017
190 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,263
Tracked since 1945
Census
Sami in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,689 people with the first name Sami, which placed it at #2,512 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
#2,512
National first-name rank
People counted
9.7K
9,689 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sami
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sami is White at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.3%) and Black (5.7%). 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 Sami 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 Sami at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.1% · 6,985
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.3% · 1,098
- Black or African American5.7% · 549
- Two or more races5.3% · 510
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 499
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 48
Gender
Gender distribution for Sami
Sami is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,508 total registrations, 5,111 (78.5%) were male and 1,397 (21.5%) were female.
Sami as a male name
- Ranked #1,263 in 2024
- 156 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (174 births)
Sami as a female name
- Ranked #5,910 in 2024
- 21 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (39 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sami on both sides of the split. Of the 9,683 people counted with this name, 7,622 were male (78.7%) and 2,061 were female (21.3%).
Popularity
Sami: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sami from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,680 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sami remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sami 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 Sami during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sami, while Tennessee, Missouri, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 174 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sami
The name Sami has its origins in the Semitic languages and is derived from the Arabic word 'sami', meaning 'elevated' or 'exalted'. It is a name that has been used for centuries across various cultures and regions, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sami can be found in ancient Mesopotamian texts, where it was used to refer to a tribe or group of people who were known for their skilled craftsmanship and trading prowess. The name gained further prominence during the Islamic Golden Age, when several notable scholars and thinkers bore the name.
Among the most famous historical figures named Sami was Sami al-Majari, a renowned 9th-century Arab mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and spherical geometry. His work laid the foundation for many subsequent advancements in these disciplines.
Another notable Sami was Sami Shalom, a prominent Jewish philosopher and theologian who lived in the 11th century. He was widely respected for his commentaries on various religious texts and his efforts to bridge the gap between different faiths and cultures.
In the realm of literature, Sami Pasha al-Barudi, an Egyptian poet and writer who lived from 1838 to 1904, is remembered for his influential works that celebrated Arabic culture and language. His poems and prose played a crucial role in the revival of Arabic literature during the 19th century.
The name Sami also has a rich history in the world of music and arts. Sami al-Shawa, a Palestinian singer and composer born in 1909, was renowned for his contributions to the development of modern Arabic music. His compositions blended traditional melodies with contemporary styles, earning him widespread acclaim.
Sami Frashëri, an Albanian writer, philosopher, and activist who lived from 1850 to 1904, is considered one of the most influential figures in the Albanian National Awakening movement. His works, which included poetry, plays, and essays, played a pivotal role in shaping Albanian national identity and promoting cultural renaissance.
These are just a few examples of the many notable figures throughout history who have borne the name Sami, each leaving an indelible mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human culture and intellectual endeavor.
People
Sami + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sami 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
Sami: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sami?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,317 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sami 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 54,259 US residents.
Is Sami a common name?
We classify Sami as "Rare". It ranks above 97% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sami most popular?
The single biggest year for Sami was 2017, when 190 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sami is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sami in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,689 people with the name Sami, or 3.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,512 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 Sami 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 Sami?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sami on both sides of the split. Of the 9,683 people counted with this name, 7,622 were male (78.7%) and 2,061 were female (21.3%). 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 Sami?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sami is White at 72.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.3%) and Black (5.7%). 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 Sami most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sami in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.1% (6,985 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 Sami in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sami a male name?
Yes, 78.5% of people registered as Sami in the SSA data are male. 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 Sami still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sami 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 Sami 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 Sami as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.