Sem

Boys' name

Form of Shem

Sem has been given to 215 babies in the U.S. since 1982. 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 2006, with 12 recorded.

Babies named Sem, 2024

1 in 478,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Sem: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Shem

Hebrew

What Sem means

Sem is a form of Shem.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Sem is used in Biblical Latin, Biblical Greek and Dutch.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈsɛm/ for Sem.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Sem → Shem. The family’s meaning is “name”, recorded in the naming reference for Shem.

Origin, language, and formation

Sem is used in Azerbaijani, Dutch and Latin. Its origins include Hebrew.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Shem, Sam and Sēmus.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Dutch, Sem is pronounced /sɛm/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 215 boys were recorded with the name Sem between 1982 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 12 in 2006; its best national rank was #6,087 in 1983.

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 Sem?

Sem had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024: 1 in 478,000; 7 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only: 1 in 246,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 331,009 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Sem 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 2024 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 331,009 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Sem. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Sems were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Sem was born before 2005 — so the typical Sem is around 20 today.

Median birth year: 2005; About 20 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 36.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 70.7%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 215; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 36.3% of all recorded uses (78).

Is Sem 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 2006 (12)
Years since peak: 19; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 28.8% average annual change
Best rank ever: #6,087; 1983

Sem around the world

Where Sem 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
2006–2025
#5,137
in 2025
France
1984–2025
#2,495
in 2025
Canada
2018–2020
#2,283
in 2020

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Sem 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: #6,087; 1983
Peak year: 2006; 12 that year
First recorded: 1982
Last recorded: 2024
All-time count: 215
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Sem

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

Semir Semisi Semaje Basem Kasem Kassem Asem Semih Semaj Qasem Semajay Semon Semaja Bassem Semmie Jasem Semere Ansem Semahj Semyon Semion Semajae Semajai Nassem

Sibling names for Sem

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

Taniya Melia Jazmyne Jayna Nyasia Tayla Lanie Estefany

For a brother

Paulo Yair Lavon Tye Deshaun Oswaldo Nathen Britton

Explore around Sem

Top names of 2006, Sem's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 1983 Boys' names starting with S Dutch Boy Names