Sambo

Boys' name

Nickname of Samuel or Samantha

Sambo has been given to 39 babies in the U.S. since 1918. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1924, with 7 recorded.

Babies named Sambo, 1986

1 in 593,000

Sambo over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sambo: meaning, origin, and history

Nickname of Samuel or Samantha

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Sambo means

Sambo is a nickname of Samuel or Samantha.

Origin, language, and formation

Sambo is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Samuel and Samantha.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Sambo is pronounced /ˈsæmboʊ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 39 boys were recorded with the name Sambo between 1918 and 1986. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1924; its best national rank was #3,615 in 1934.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Sambo?

Sambo had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1986, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1986: 1 in 593,000; 6 of 3,556,724 births
Among boys only: 1 in 307,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1986: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 410,890 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Sambo sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1986 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 410,890 children born in 1986 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sambo. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sambos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sambo was born before 1924 — so the typical Sambo is around 101 today.

Median birth year: 1924; About 101 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 30.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 28.2%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 11; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 30.8% of all recorded uses (12).

Is Sambo rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1924 (7)
Years since peak: 101; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Very steady; 0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,615; 1934

Spellings of Sambo

Sambo is not the most common spelling — Sam is, with 60.4% against Sambo's 0.02%.

Sam60.4%127,234
Sammy20.6%43,382
Samson6.1%12,879
Samir5.3%11,094
Sami2.5%5,303
Santo2.3%4,876
Samer0.69%1,458
Samar0.61%1,278

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Sambo around the world

Where Sambo ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

France
1985–1985
#2,816
in 1985
South Australia
1972–1983
#443
in 1983

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Sambo by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,615; 1934
Peak year: 1924; 7 that year
First recorded: 1918
Last recorded: 1986
All-time count: 39
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Sambo

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Samyr Samip Samuil Samai Samim Samved Samil Samee Sameh Samyar Samori Sameir Samih Samere Sammi Sambhav Samuela Samrat Samel Samiel Samyak Samit Samier Sammer

Sibling names for Sambo

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Rosina Kattie Lavon Blanch Jaunita Vernell Dorris Leonora

For a brother

Alvis Eldridge Merritt Lacy Delmer Wilton Elwin Domenick

Explore around Sambo

Top names of 1924, Sambo's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1934 Boys' names starting with S