Samel
Of Hebrew origin meaning "asked of God" or "obtained from God".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Samel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Samel today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Samel births was 1920 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Samel. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Samel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1920
8 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1984 SSA rank
#7,130
Tracked since 1918
Census
Samel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 217 people with the first name Samel, which placed it at #36,520 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
#36,520
National first-name rank
People counted
217
217 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
34.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Samel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samel is White at 34.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Black (23.5%). 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 Samel 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 Samel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White34.6% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino27.2% · 59
- Black or African American23.5% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.7% · 21
- Two or more races4.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Samel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Samel from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 24 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Samel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Samel 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 Samel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Samel
The name Samel has its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, spoken in parts of the Middle East and Fertile Crescent region during the first millennium BCE. It is derived from the Aramaic root word "sml," which means "image" or "likeness." The name likely emerged as a reference to the idea of being created in the image or likeness of a divine being.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Samel appears in the Aramaic inscriptions found in the ancient city of Palmyra, located in present-day Syria. These inscriptions date back to the 3rd century CE and suggest that the name was in use among the Aramaic-speaking populations of the region during that time period.
The name Samel is also found in certain ancient Syriac Christian texts, such as the Peshitta, the standard version of the Bible used by the Syriac Christian communities. This suggests that the name may have been adopted and used by early Christian groups in the Middle East.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name Samel, one notable individual was Samel ibn Yahya, a prominent Sabian scholar and astronomer who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century CE. He made significant contributions to the field of astronomy and was known for his works on the observation and calculation of planetary movements.
Another historical figure with the name Samel was Samel al-Maghribi, a renowned Islamic philosopher and theologian who lived in the 12th century CE. He was born in Morocco and is known for his writings on Islamic jurisprudence and his contributions to the development of Sunni Islamic thought.
In the realm of literature, Samel ibn Qurra, an Aramaic-speaking Christian scholar and writer from the 9th century CE, is noteworthy. He wrote extensively on various topics, including philosophy, theology, and mathematics, and his works were influential in the intellectual circles of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Moving forward in history, Samel ibn Yazdanyar was a prominent Persian physician and scholar who lived in the 11th century CE. He made significant contributions to the field of medicine and is known for his comprehensive medical treatise, which covered various aspects of health and disease.
Finally, Samel al-Dimashqi, a Syrian scholar and historian from the 14th century CE, is worth mentioning. He wrote extensively on the history and geography of the Middle East region and is remembered for his detailed accounts of the cities and populations of the region during his time.
People
Samel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Samel 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
Samel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Samel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Samel 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Samel a common name?
We classify Samel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Samel most popular?
The single biggest year for Samel was 1920, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Samel is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Samel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 217 people with the name Samel, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,520 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 Samel 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 Samel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Samel leans strongly male. 196 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 12 female bearers (5.8%). 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 Samel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Samel is White at 34.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Black (23.5%). 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 Samel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Samel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 34.6% (75 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 Samel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Samel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Samel 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 Samel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Samel 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 Samel 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 Samel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.