Saman
An Arabic masculine name meaning "high position" or "heavenly".
Name Census estimates that about 395 living Americans carry the first name Saman. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Saman today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saman births was 2001 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saman. 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 Saman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
395
~ 1 in 867,733 Americans
Peak year
2001
24 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,050
Tracked since 1979
Census
Saman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,586 people with the first name Saman, which placed it at #8,959 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
#8,959
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,586 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saman is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (38.7%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Saman 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 Saman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.7% · 804
- Asian and Pacific Islander38.7% · 613
- Two or more races6.7% · 107
- Black or African American2.3% · 37
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Saman
Saman is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 406 total registrations, 288 (70.9%) were male and 118 (29.1%) were female.
Saman as a male name
- Ranked #12,050 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (16 births)
Saman as a female name
- Ranked #19,492 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 2001 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Saman on both sides of the split. Of the 1,583 people counted with this name, 1,027 were male (64.9%) and 556 were female (35.1%).
Popularity
Saman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saman from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 145 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saman 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 Saman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Samans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saman
The name Saman has its roots in various ancient cultures and languages. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "samana," meaning "equal" or "balanced." This connection can be traced back to the Indian subcontinent and the early days of Hinduism and Buddhism.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Saman can be found in the Vedas, the sacred texts of Hinduism. In the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts, the term "saman" is used to refer to specific melodies or chants used in Vedic rituals. This suggests that the name may have been associated with religious practices and spiritual traditions in ancient India.
The name also has connections to the Persian language and culture. In Persian, the word "saman" means "belongings" or "possessions." This could indicate that the name may have been given to individuals who were considered valuable or treasured within their communities.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Saman. One of the earliest recorded figures was Saman Khuda, a renowned Persian poet who lived in the 11th century AD. His poetic works were highly influential in the development of Persian literature and are still studied and appreciated today.
Another significant figure was Saman Gunanidhi, a Buddhist scholar and teacher who lived in the 5th century AD in India. He was known for his deep understanding of Buddhist philosophy and his contributions to the preservation and dissemination of Buddhist teachings.
In the Islamic world, Saman al-Muhammadi was a prominent scholar and jurist who lived in the 9th century AD. He was highly respected for his knowledge of Islamic law and his contributions to the development of legal scholarship within the Islamic tradition.
During the Middle Ages, Saman ibn Ibrahim al-Muhallabi was a notable Arabic poet and literary figure who lived in the 10th century AD. His poetic works were widely acclaimed and celebrated for their eloquence and depth of emotion.
In more recent times, Saman Kunan was a Thai Navy SEAL who tragically lost his life during the rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team from the Tham Luang cave in 2018. His sacrifice and bravery in the face of adversity made him a national hero in Thailand.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Saman. While its origins and meanings may vary across cultures and languages, the name has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on the tapestry of human civilization.
People
Saman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saman 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
Saman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 395 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saman 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 867,733 US residents.
Is Saman a common name?
We classify Saman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saman most popular?
The single biggest year for Saman was 2001, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saman is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,586 people with the name Saman, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,959 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 Saman 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 Saman?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Saman on both sides of the split. Of the 1,583 people counted with this name, 1,027 were male (64.9%) and 556 were female (35.1%). 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 Saman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saman is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (38.7%) and Two or More Races (6.7%). 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 Saman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Saman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (804 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 Saman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saman a male name?
Yes, 70.9% of people registered as Saman 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 Saman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saman 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 Saman 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 common is the name Saman?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.