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Samson

#477 in 2025Boys' name

Possibly sun, through Sampson

Samson has been given to 12,879 babies in the U.S. since 1892. In 2025 it ranked #477 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 639 recorded.

Babies named Samson, 2025

1 in 5,190

Samson over time, 1880–2025

Boys
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Samson: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly sun, through Sampson

Hebrew

What Samson means

Samson belongs to the name family reached through Samson → Sampson → Σαμψών → שִׁמְשׁוֹן. Its meaning is “sun”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Middle English Sampson, Sampsoun, Samson, from Latin Samson, from Ancient Greek Σαμψών (Sampsṓn), from Hebrew שִׁמְשׁוֹן.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Samson (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Samson is used in English, Faroese, French and Occitan. Its origins include Hebrew.

Samson comes through Middle English Sampson, Latin Samson, Ancient Greek Σαμψών and Hebrew שִׁמְשׁוֹן.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Sampson, Σαμψών and שִׁמְשׁוֹן.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Samson is pronounced /ˈsæmsən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 12,879 boys were recorded with the name Samson between 1892 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 639 in 2025; its best national rank was #477 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #566 in 2020 to #477 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #619 in 2015 to #477 in 2025.

How common is Samson?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 5,190
639 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 2,670
0.04% of boys
Rank, 2025
#477
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
3,597 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Samson 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 2025 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 1002%
School of 5009%

Put another way: gather 3,597 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Samson. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Samsons were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Samson was born before 2012 — so the typical Samson is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
30.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
68.7%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
12,255
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 30.3% of all recorded uses (3,902).

Is Samson 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
+45
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+89
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+142
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.47×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (639)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
10.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#477
2025

Spellings of Samson

Samson is not the most common spelling — Jason is, with 47.3% against Samson's 0.58%.

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.

Where Samson is used

Across 2016–2025, Samson was most concentrated in Hawaii — about 1 in 524 boys, against 1 in 3,150 across all states with data. It was least common in West Virginia (1 in 14,286).

7191 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Hawaii1 in 524
  2. 2Idaho1 in 1,429
  3. 3Utah1 in 1,695
  4. 4Oregon1 in 1,852
  5. 5Arkansas1 in 1,887
  6. 6Kansas1 in 1,923
  7. 7Oklahoma1 in 1,961
  8. 8Alabama1 in 2,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Samson is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 79% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Samson around the world

Where Samson 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.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #798
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2010–2024
    #619
    in 2024
  • Northern Ireland
    2015–2015
    #342
    in 2015
  • Ireland
    1999–2024
    #785
    in 2024
  • France
    1900–2025
    #2,621
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #417
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #756
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1974–2013
    #276
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Samson

People whose public names include Samson, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Samson in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Samson. Linked forms have their own page here.

Sansone

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Samson by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#477
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 89
Best rank ever
#477
2025
Peak year
2025
639 that year
First recorded
1892
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
12,879
Count in 2025
639

Names similar to Samson

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

SampsonSammieSamualSamirEdisonJudsonSameerBensonKaysonColsonLawsonKarsonKaisonWatsonCaysonSammyAddisonGibsonCasonKasonBronsonStetsonMaysonKyson

Names with a curve like Samson

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Samson, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MarceloValentinoMatthiasYusufYosefSamirChaimLeandroSantinoAriOmariBo

Sibling names for Samson

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

Explore around Samson

Top names of 2025, Samson's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2025Boys' names starting with SOccitan Boy Names