Summer
A feminine name derived from the English word referring to the warmest season.
Name Census estimates that about 86,835 living Americans carry the first name Summer. It sits at #142 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Summer today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Summer births was 1998 (2,558 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Summer. 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 Summer with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Summer is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 254 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
87K
~ 1 in 3,947 Americans
Peak year
1998
2,558 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#142
Tracked since 1918
Census
Summer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 70,690 people with the first name Summer, which placed it at #723 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
#723
National first-name rank
People counted
71K
70,690 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
23.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Summer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Summer is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Summer 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 Summer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.4% · 51,202
- Black or African American9.1% · 6,411
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 5,637
- Two or more races6.1% · 4,323
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 2,040
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 1,077
Gender
Gender distribution for Summer
Out of the 89,577 babies given the name Summer since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Summer as a male name
- Ranked #9,723 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (28 births)
Summer as a female name
- Ranked #142 in 2024
- 2,065 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (2,558 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Summer appears almost entirely female. Of the 70,693 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Summer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Summer from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 22,235 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Summer remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Summer 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 Summer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Summers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Summer, while Vermont, Wyoming, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,722 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Summer
The name Summer has its origins in the Old English word "sumor," which referred to the warmest season of the year. This word is derived from the Proto-Germanic "sumur," which ultimately traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root "sam-" meaning "summer."
In ancient times, the name was likely used as a descriptive term or nickname for children born during the summer months. The earliest recorded use of Summer as a given name dates back to the late 16th century in England.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Summer was Summer Bowditch, an English mathematician and astronomer born in 1766. He made significant contributions to the fields of navigation and celestial mechanics.
In the 19th century, Summer West (1824-1909) was an American educator and women's rights advocate who played a pivotal role in establishing the first public high school for girls in San Francisco.
Another notable figure with the name Summer was Summer Aysoun (1887-1964), a British painter and sculptor known for her vibrant landscapes and portraiture works.
The name Summer also has ties to literature, with Summer Solstice being the protagonist in Edith Wharton's 1917 novel of the same name, which explores themes of love, societal expectations, and the pursuit of happiness.
In more recent history, Summer Sanders (born 1972) is an American former competitive swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Throughout its history, the name Summer has been associated with warmth, brightness, and the joyful spirit of the summer season, making it a popular choice for parents seeking a name with a positive and uplifting connotation.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Summer
People
Summer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Summer 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
Summer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Summer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86,835 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Summer 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 3,947 US residents.
Is Summer a common name?
We classify Summer as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89,577 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Summer most popular?
The single biggest year for Summer was 1998, when 2,558 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Summer is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Summer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 70,690 people with the name Summer, or 23.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #723 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 Summer 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 Summer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Summer appears almost entirely female. Of the 70,693 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 Summer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Summer is White at 72.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (8.0%). 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 Summer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Summer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.4% (51,202 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 Summer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Summer a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Summer 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 Summer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Summer 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 Summer 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 Summer as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Summer on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.