Sammi
A feminine variant of the Hebrew name Samuel meaning "heard of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,626 living Americans carry the first name Sammi. It is a predominantly female name (96.7% of registrations). The average person named Sammi today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sammi births was 2002 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sammi. 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 Sammi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Sammi is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 56 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 210,796 Americans
Peak year
2002
51 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2018 SSA rank
#6,573
Tracked since 1946
Census
Sammi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,191 people with the first name Sammi, which placed it at #7,067 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
#7,067
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,191 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sammi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sammi is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Sammi 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 Sammi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.0% · 1,228
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.0% · 526
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 193
- Black or African American4.8% · 105
- Two or more races4.1% · 89
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 50
Gender
Gender distribution for Sammi
Sammi leans heavily female at 96.7% of total registrations, but 56 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sammi as a male name
- Ranked #11,887 in 2018
- 6 male births in 2018
- Peak: 2000 (8 births)
Sammi as a female name
- Ranked #6,573 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1974 (50 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sammi leans strongly female. 1,983 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 201 male bearers (9.2%).
Popularity
Sammi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sammi from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 359 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sammi 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 Sammi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sammis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sammi, while Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sammi
The name Sammi is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the word "shemesh," which means "sun." This suggests that the name may have been associated with brightness, warmth, and radiance in ancient times.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sammi can be traced back to biblical times, where it is mentioned in the Book of Numbers as the name of a prince from the tribe of Issachar. This reference dates back to approximately the 13th century BCE, indicating the antiquity of this name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Sammi. One of the most famous was Sammi al-Isfahani, a celebrated Persian poet and scholar who lived in the 10th century CE. His contributions to Arabic literature and linguistics were highly influential during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another historical figure with the name Sammi was Sammi Esther Raphael, a prominent Jewish-American actress and vaudeville performer from the early 20th century. She gained fame for her comedic talents and was a trailblazer for women in the entertainment industry during her time.
In the literary world, Sammi Baaraka was a renowned Somali poet and playwright who lived in the 19th century. Her works celebrated Somali culture and tradition, and she is considered a pioneer of modern Somali literature.
Moving to more recent times, Sammi Smith was an American country music singer and songwriter who achieved significant success in the 1960s and 1970s. Her hit song "Help Me Make It Through the Night" earned her a Grammy Award and cemented her place in country music history.
While the name Sammi may have originated from the Hebrew word for "sun," it has transcended cultural and linguistic boundaries, appearing across various regions and time periods. Its enduring presence in historical records and its association with notable individuals showcase the rich heritage and versatility of this name.
People
Sammi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sammi 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
Sammi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sammi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,626 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sammi 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 210,796 US residents.
Is Sammi a common name?
We classify Sammi as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,713 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sammi most popular?
The single biggest year for Sammi was 2002, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sammi is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sammi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,191 people with the name Sammi, or 0.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,067 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 Sammi 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 Sammi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sammi leans strongly female. 1,983 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 201 male bearers (9.2%). 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 Sammi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sammi is White at 56.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.0%) and Hispanic (8.8%). 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 Sammi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sammi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.0% (1,228 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 Sammi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sammi a female name?
Yes, 96.7% of people registered as Sammi in the SSA data are female. 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 Sammi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sammi 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 Sammi 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 Sammi?
See how many people have the name Sammi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.