Sal
A diminutive form of the masculine name Salvador, derived from the Latin salvator meaning "savior".
Name Census estimates that about 2,376 living Americans carry the first name Sal. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sal today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sal births was 1958 (114 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sal. 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.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,257 Americans
Peak year
1958
114 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,158
Tracked since 1909
Census
Sal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,123 people with the first name Sal, which placed it at #3,096 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
#3,096
National first-name rank
People counted
7.1K
7,123 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sal is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Sal 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 Sal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.6% · 4,104
- Hispanic or Latino33.3% · 2,370
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 339
- Black or African American2.7% · 195
- Two or more races1.3% · 90
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 25
Popularity
Sal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sal from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 759 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sal 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 Sal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Sal, while Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 236 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sal
The name Sal is a diminutive form of the masculine given name Salvador, which originated from the Late Latin name Salvator, meaning "savior" or "one who saves." This name has its roots in the Spanish and Portuguese languages and cultures, and it can be traced back to the early Christian era.
Salvador was initially a religious name derived from the Latin word "salvare," meaning "to save." It gained popularity among Christians, particularly in regions where Spanish and Portuguese were spoken, as it was associated with the concept of salvation and the figure of Jesus Christ as the savior.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Salvador can be found in the Bible, specifically in the Gospel of Luke, where it refers to Jesus as the "Savior." Additionally, the name appears in various medieval Christian texts and hagiographies (biographies of saints).
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Sal or its variants, such as Salvador Dalí (1904-1989), the renowned Spanish surrealist painter known for his bizarre and dreamlike artworks. Another prominent figure was Salvador Allende (1908-1973), the former President of Chile who tragically died during the military coup in 1973.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook Salvador Madariaga (1886-1978), a Spanish diplomat, writer, and historian who authored numerous works on Spanish history and culture. The name also graced the life of Salvador Novo (1904-1974), a Mexican writer, poet, and scholar who made significant contributions to Mexican literature.
Moving to the world of music, Salvador Bacarisse (1898-1963) was a Spanish composer and pianist who gained recognition for his compositions, including operas and orchestral works. Additionally, Salvador Flores Rivera (1927-1987), better known as Chava Flores, was a renowned Mexican singer and actor who captivated audiences with his performances.
These are just a few examples of the individuals who have carried the name Sal or its variants throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and cultures.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sal
People
Sal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sal 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
Sal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sal 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 144,257 US residents.
Is Sal a common name?
We classify Sal as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,650 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sal most popular?
The single biggest year for Sal was 1958, when 114 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sal is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,123 people with the name Sal, or 2.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,096 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 Sal 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 Sal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sal leans strongly male. 6,838 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 286 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Sal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sal is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%). 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 Sal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (4,104 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 Sal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sal a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sal 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 Sal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sal 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 Sal 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 the name Sal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.