Samira
An Arabic feminine name meaning "companionable woman" or "pleasant companion".
Name Census estimates that about 8,319 living Americans carry the first name Samira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Samira today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samira births was 2022 (365 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samira. 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 Samira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.3K
~ 1 in 41,201 Americans
Peak year
2022
365 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#773
Tracked since 1961
Census
Samira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,696 people with the first name Samira, which placed it at #2,237 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
#2,237
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
11,696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samira is White at 41.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (18.4%). 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 Samira 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 Samira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.9% · 4,897
- Black or African American23.0% · 2,685
- Hispanic or Latino18.4% · 2,150
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.7% · 1,256
- Two or more races5.8% · 677
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 31
Popularity
Samira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samira from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,404 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Samira remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samira 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 Samira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Samira, while Oregon, Connecticut, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 214 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Samira
The name Samira originates from the Arabic language and has been in use for centuries across the Middle East and parts of North Africa. It is derived from the Arabic word "samir," which means "companion" or "entertainer."
Samira is believed to have its roots in ancient Arabic poetry and literature, where it was often used to describe female singers and storytellers who would entertain guests with their melodies and tales. The name gained popularity during the medieval Islamic era and has been documented in various historical records and manuscripts from that time period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Samira can be found in the 10th-century Arabic anthology "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), which chronicles the lives and works of famous musicians and poets from the early Islamic world. In the anthology, there are references to several notable female singers and entertainers named Samira.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Samira. One of the most famous was Samira Moussa (1917-1952), an Egyptian singer and actress who was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in Arabic music during the mid-20th century. Her powerful vocals and captivating performances earned her widespread acclaim across the Arab world.
Another prominent figure with the name Samira was Samira Said (1936-2022), an Algerian-born French actress and writer who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. She was widely celebrated for her work in both French and Arabic cinema and was a recipient of several prestigious awards.
In the realm of literature, Samira Negrouche (born 1974) is an Algerian author and poet who has gained recognition for her works exploring themes of identity, exile, and the experiences of women in the Arab world. Her poetry collections and novels have been translated into multiple languages and have received critical acclaim.
Another notable figure with the name Samira is Samira Ahmed (born 1968), a British journalist and broadcaster who has worked for various news organizations, including the BBC and Channel 4. She has been recognized for her contributions to journalism and her advocacy for diversity and inclusion in the media industry.
Samira Makhmalbaf (born 1980) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter who has been celebrated for her thought-provoking and socially conscious films. She gained international recognition at a young age and has been lauded for her unique storytelling and perspectives on contemporary Iranian society.
People
Samira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samira 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
Samira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,319 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samira 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 41,201 US residents.
Is Samira a common name?
We classify Samira as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,486 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samira most popular?
The single biggest year for Samira was 2022, when 365 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samira is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,696 people with the name Samira, or 3.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,237 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 Samira 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 Samira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samira appears almost entirely female. Of the 11,693 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Samira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samira is White at 41.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.0%) and Hispanic (18.4%). 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 Samira most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.9% (4,897 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 Samira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samira 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 Samira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samira 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 Samira 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 share the name Samira?
Want to know how many people share the name Samira? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.