Samvel
An Armenian masculine name meaning "told by God" or "God has heard".
Name Census estimates that about 197 living Americans carry the first name Samvel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Samvel today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samvel births was 2022 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samvel. 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.
People living today
197
~ 1 in 1,739,870 Americans
Peak year
2022
14 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,737
Tracked since 1993
Census
Samvel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 793 people with the first name Samvel, which placed it at #14,753 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
#14,753
National first-name rank
People counted
793
793 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samvel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samvel is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Samvel 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 Samvel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.6% · 758
- Two or more races1.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 12
- Black or African American1.0% · 8
Popularity
Samvel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samvel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 76 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Samvel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samvel 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 Samvel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samvels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Samvel
The given name Samvel has its origins in the Armenian language and culture. It is derived from the biblical name Samuel, which in turn comes from the Hebrew name Shemuel, meaning "name of God" or "God has heard".
The earliest recorded use of the name Samvel in Armenian texts dates back to the 5th century AD, during the era of the ancient Armenian kingdom. It was a popular name among Armenian nobility and clergy, and was often associated with wisdom, piety, and intellectual pursuits.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Samvel was Samvel Anets'i (c. 1230-1300), an Armenian philosopher, theologian, and scholar. He made significant contributions to the fields of logic, metaphysics, and ethics, and his works were widely studied and influential in the medieval period.
Another prominent individual named Samvel was Samvel Muradyan (1925-2010), an Armenian painter and artist renowned for his vibrant and expressive works. His paintings often depicted scenes from Armenian history, culture, and daily life, and he is considered one of the most important Armenian artists of the 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Samvel Muzhets Isahakyan (1928-1992) was a prominent Armenian poet and writer. His poetry was deeply rooted in Armenian folklore and tradition, and he is celebrated for his contributions to preserving and promoting the richness of Armenian culture through his literary works.
Samvel Karapetyan (1936-2014) was a distinguished Armenian composer and conductor. His compositions spanned a wide range of genres, including orchestral works, chamber music, and film scores. He was particularly known for his skill in blending traditional Armenian folk melodies with contemporary compositional techniques.
Finally, Samvel Babayan (born 1965) is a renowned Armenian chess grandmaster and coach. He has achieved numerous successes in international chess tournaments and is widely regarded as one of the strongest players in the history of Armenian chess.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Samvel, showcasing its enduring presence and significance within Armenian culture and heritage.
People
Samvel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samvel 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
Samvel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samvel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 197 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samvel 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 1,739,870 US residents.
Is Samvel a common name?
We classify Samvel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samvel most popular?
The single biggest year for Samvel was 2022, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samvel is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samvel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 793 people with the name Samvel, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,753 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 Samvel 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 Samvel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samvel appears almost entirely male. Of the 791 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Samvel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samvel is White at 95.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.9%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Samvel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samvel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.6% (758 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 Samvel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samvel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samvel 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 Samvel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samvel 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 Samvel 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 Americans are named Samvel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.