Satchel
A modern English diminutive of the surname Satchwell, meaning "one who lives by a small wood."
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Satchel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Satchel today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Satchel births was 1998 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Satchel. 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
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
1998
40 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,993
Tracked since 1988
Census
Satchel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 579 people with the first name Satchel, which placed it at #18,565 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
#18,565
National first-name rank
People counted
579
579 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Satchel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satchel is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Satchel 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 Satchel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.4% · 338
- Black or African American21.4% · 124
- Two or more races10.7% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Satchel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Satchel from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 241 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
Satchel 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 Satchel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Satchels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Satchel
The given name Satchel has its origins in the English language, with the earliest known usage dating back to the late 19th century. It is derived from the word "satchel," which refers to a small bag or case typically used for carrying books or other items.
The name's etymology can be traced back to the Old French word "sachel," which in turn originated from the Late Latin word "saccellus," a diminutive form of "saccus," meaning "sack" or "bag." This connection to a functional object is quite unique, as many names are derived from more traditional sources like names of places, occupations, or physical characteristics.
While the name Satchel does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it gained prominence through its association with notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest and most famous bearers of the name was Satchel Paige (1906-1982), a legendary baseball player who played in the Negro Leagues and later in Major League Baseball.
Another notable figure was Satchel McElrath Crumlett (1927-2005), an American artist and painter known for his abstract expressionist works. His unique name was a combination of his given name Satchel and his mother's maiden name McElrath.
In the literary world, Satchel Paige's Country (1980) by Larry Tye is a biography that explores the life and achievements of the baseball great Satchel Paige. The book's title pays homage to the iconic figure and his namesake.
Satchel Seide (1920-2004) was a British actor and director who appeared in several films and television shows throughout his career, including the popular series "The Avengers" in the 1960s.
Satchel Smith (1892-1975) was a blues singer and guitarist from Mississippi who was active in the early 20th century and contributed to the development of the Delta blues genre.
While the name Satchel is not as common as some other given names, it has a unique and distinctive history that reflects its origins and association with notable individuals across various fields.
People
Satchel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Satchel 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
Satchel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Satchel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Satchel 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Satchel a common name?
We classify Satchel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 548 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Satchel most popular?
The single biggest year for Satchel was 1998, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Satchel is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Satchel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 579 people with the name Satchel, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,565 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 Satchel 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 Satchel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Satchel leans strongly male. 540 people counted with this name were male (92.2%), compared with 46 female bearers (7.8%). 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 Satchel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satchel is White at 58.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.4%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Satchel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Satchel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.4% (338 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 Satchel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Satchel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Satchel 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 Satchel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Satchel 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 Satchel 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 Satchel?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.