Saul
Masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "asked for" or "prayed for".
Name Census estimates that about 36,089 living Americans carry the first name Saul. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Saul today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saul births was 2006 (1,120 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saul. 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 Saul with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Saul is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 74 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
36K
~ 1 in 9,497 Americans
Peak year
2006
1,120 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#559
Tracked since 1880
Census
Saul in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 51,859 people with the first name Saul, which placed it at #871 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
#871
National first-name rank
People counted
52K
51,859 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
17.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saul
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saul is Hispanic at 89.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Saul 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 Saul at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.4% · 46,352
- White8.1% · 4,182
- Black or African American1.6% · 851
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 205
- Two or more races0.4% · 190
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 79
Gender
Gender distribution for Saul
Out of the 42,825 babies given the name Saul since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Saul as a male name
- Ranked #559 in 2024
- 529 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (1,120 births)
Saul as a female name
- Ranked #15,730 in 2004
- 6 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1989 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saul appears almost entirely male. Of the 51,866 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Saul: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saul from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 10,547 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
Saul 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 Saul during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sauls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Saul, while District of Columbia, Kentucky, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 973 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saul
The name Saul has its origins in ancient Hebrew culture and language. It is derived from the Hebrew word "sha'ul," which means "asked for" or "prayed for." This name has deep roots in the biblical tradition and is found in various sacred texts.
One of the earliest and most prominent references to the name Saul is in the Old Testament of the Bible. Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel, anointed by the prophet Samuel around 1025 BCE. His reign was marked by both victories and struggles, and his story is detailed in the books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.
Another notable figure bearing the name Saul was the Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus. Born around 5 CE, he was a influential figure in the early spread of Christianity. After a dramatic conversion experience, he became a zealous advocate for the Christian faith and played a pivotal role in the expansion of the religion throughout the Roman Empire.
In the realm of literature, the name Saul appears in various works. One example is the novel "Saul Bellow" by the celebrated American author Saul Bellow (1915-2005), who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1976. Bellow's works explored the complexities of modern urban life and the human condition.
The Spanish poet and playwright Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635), one of the most prolific and influential writers of the Spanish Golden Age, also bore the name Saul as part of his full name.
Another notable figure named Saul was Saul Alinsky (1909-1972), an American community organizer and writer. His book "Rules for Radicals" became a influential work on grassroots organizing and social activism.
Throughout history, the name Saul has carried a rich heritage and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including religious figures, writers, and social activists. Its Hebrew origins and biblical associations have contributed to its enduring presence and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Saul
People
Saul + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saul 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
Saul: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saul?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 36,089 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saul 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 9,497 US residents.
Is Saul a common name?
We classify Saul as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42,825 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saul most popular?
The single biggest year for Saul was 2006, when 1,120 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saul 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 Saul in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 51,859 people with the name Saul, or 17.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #871 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 Saul 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 Saul?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saul appears almost entirely male. Of the 51,866 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Saul?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saul is Hispanic at 89.4%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Black (1.6%). 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 Saul most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Saul in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.4% (46,352 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 Saul in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saul a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Saul 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 Saul still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saul 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 Saul 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 are called Saul?
You can see how many people share the name Saul on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.