Samaad
An Islamic masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "eternally-existing" or "permanent".
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Samaad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Samaad today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samaad births was 2009 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samaad. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Samaad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2009
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,829
Tracked since 1992
Census
Samaad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Samaad, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samaad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samaad is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Samaad 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 Samaad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.9% · 125
- Two or more races5.0% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
- White1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Samaad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samaad from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 70 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Samaad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samaad 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 Samaad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samaads live
Origin
Meaning and history of Samaad
The name Samaad finds its origins in Arabic, where it is derived from the word 'samad', meaning 'eternal' or 'everlasting'. This name has been in use among Arabic-speaking communities for centuries, with its earliest recorded instances dating back to the 7th century.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Samaad was Samaad ibn Malik, a prominent Arab warrior who lived during the 7th century. He was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and fought in several battles during the early days of Islam.
In Islamic tradition, the name Samaad is also one of the 99 names of Allah, often translated as 'The Eternal' or 'The Self-Sufficient'. This association with divinity has likely contributed to the name's enduring popularity among Muslims.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Samaad. One such individual was Samaad al-Dawlah, a powerful military commander and ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire in the 11th century. He was known for his military campaigns and conquests, which extended the empire's reach across parts of modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Another prominent figure was Samaad ibn al-Muqaddam, a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century. He made significant contributions to the fields of trigonometry and astronomy, and his works were widely studied and referenced by scholars of his time.
In the realm of literature, Samaad al-Katib was a famous Arab poet and calligrapher who lived in the 10th century. His poetic works were celebrated for their beauty and eloquence, and he was known as a master of the art of calligraphy.
Samaad al-Mutanabbi, born in 915 CE, was another notable Arab poet who bore this name. He is considered one of the greatest poets in the Arabic language and is renowned for his metaphorical and philosophical writings.
While the name Samaad has its roots in Arabic culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among Muslim communities. However, the name's rich history and association with Islamic tradition and Arabic heritage remain an integral part of its significance.
People
Samaad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samaad 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
Samaad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samaad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samaad 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 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Samaad a common name?
We classify Samaad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 203 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samaad most popular?
The single biggest year for Samaad was 2009, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samaad is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samaad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Samaad, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Samaad 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 Samaad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samaad leans strongly male. 138 people counted with this name were male (97.2%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.8%). 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 Samaad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samaad is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.0%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Samaad most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Samaad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (125 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 Samaad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samaad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samaad 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 Samaad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samaad 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 Samaad 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 Americans are named Samaad?
See how many people share the name Samaad on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.