Summit
A name suggesting the highest point or pinnacle of achievement.
Name Census estimates that about 1,107 living Americans carry the first name Summit. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Summit today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Summit births was 2022 (122 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Summit. 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.
Key insights
- • Summit is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 309,625 Americans
Peak year
2022
122 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,843
Tracked since 1999
Census
Summit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 684 people with the first name Summit, which placed it at #16,475 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
#16,475
National first-name rank
People counted
684
684 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Summit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Summit is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.3%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Summit 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 Summit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 519
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.3% · 77
- Two or more races6.4% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 34
- Black or African American1.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Summit
Summit leans heavily male at 81.5% of total registrations, but 206 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Summit as a male name
- Ranked #1,843 in 2024
- 88 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (91 births)
Summit as a female name
- Ranked #6,112 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (31 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Summit leans strongly male. 560 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 116 female bearers (17.2%).
Popularity
Summit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Summit from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 529 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Summit 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 Summit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Summits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Utah, California recorded the most babies named Summit, while Tennessee, Oregon, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Summit
The given name Summit is an English word derived from the Old French word "somet", which in turn originated from the Latin word "summitus", meaning "the highest point". It is believed that the name came into use as a given name in the late 19th century, during the era of increased exploration and interest in mountaineering and conquering peaks.
The earliest recorded use of Summit as a given name dates back to the late 1800s, when it was occasionally bestowed upon children, particularly in regions with mountainous terrain or a strong connection to outdoor adventure. One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Summit was Summit Finlayson (1841-1917), a Scottish-born explorer and surveyor who was among the first Europeans to extensively map and document the interior of Vancouver Island, Canada.
Another notable figure with the given name Summit was Summit Scoville (1846-1913), an American educator and politician who served as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 1897 to 1901. Scoville was born in Summit County, Ohio, which may have inspired his unique first name.
In the early 20th century, Summit Bronson (1894-1961) was an American entrepreneur and business executive who founded and served as the first president of the National Air Transport company, a precursor to modern airlines. Bronson's bold venture into the nascent aviation industry reflected the pioneering spirit often associated with the name Summit.
One of the most prominent individuals named Summit was Summit Atwell (1919-2005), an American architect and urban planner who played a significant role in the design and development of several cities in the United States, including the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. Atwell's vision and innovative approach to urban design earned him recognition and accolades within the architectural community.
In the realm of sports, Summit Thomas (born 1982) is a former professional basketball player who played in various international leagues, including the NBA G League. Thomas, who hails from the mountainous state of Colorado, has embraced his unique first name as a symbol of determination and perseverance in reaching the heights of his athletic career.
While not as common as some traditional names, Summit has maintained a niche presence as a given name throughout history, often bestowed upon individuals with a connection to exploration, adventure, or a desire to reach new heights in their respective fields.
People
Summit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Summit 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
Summit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Summit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,107 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Summit 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 309,625 US residents.
Is Summit a common name?
We classify Summit as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Summit most popular?
The single biggest year for Summit was 2022, when 122 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Summit is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Summit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 684 people with the name Summit, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,475 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 Summit 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 Summit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Summit leans strongly male. 560 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 116 female bearers (17.2%). 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 Summit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Summit is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.3%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Summit most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Summit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (519 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 Summit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Summit a male name?
Yes, 81.5% of people registered as Summit 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 Summit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Summit 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 Summit 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 are called Summit?
You can see how many Americans are named Summit on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.