Savoy
Of French origin, meaning "from Savoy", referring to the historical region.
Name Census estimates that about 183 living Americans carry the first name Savoy. It is a predominantly male name (93.6% of registrations). The average person named Savoy today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Savoy births was 1992 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Savoy. 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
183
~ 1 in 1,872,975 Americans
Peak year
1992
10 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2017 SSA rank
#13,906
Tracked since 1966
Census
Savoy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 328 people with the first name Savoy, which placed it at #27,731 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
#27,731
National first-name rank
People counted
328
328 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Savoy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Savoy is Black at 59.5%. The next largest groups are White (24.1%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Savoy 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 Savoy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.5% · 195
- White24.1% · 79
- Two or more races6.4% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Savoy
Savoy leans heavily male at 93.6% of total registrations, but 12 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Savoy as a male name
- Ranked #13,906 in 2017
- 5 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1992 (10 births)
Savoy as a female name
- Ranked #19,522 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1998 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Savoy on both sides of the split. Of the 332 people counted with this name, 221 were male (66.6%) and 111 were female (33.4%).
Popularity
Savoy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Savoy from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 53 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Savoy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Savoy 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 Savoy 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 Savoy
The name Savoy has its origins in the French region of the same name, which is located in the Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The name is derived from the Latin word "Sapaudia," which refers to the Sapaudian people who inhabited the area during the Roman period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Savoy dates back to the 11th century, when the County of Savoy was established as a territory within the Holy Roman Empire. The first Count of Savoy, Humbert I, known as the "White-Handed," ruled from 1003 to 1048 and is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the region.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the House of Savoy played a prominent role in European politics and history. One of the most notable figures from this dynasty was Amadeus VIII, who was elected as the Antipope Felix V during the Council of Basel in 1439. He later abdicated in 1449 and was recognized as the Duke of Savoy.
In the 16th century, the name Savoy gained further prominence with the birth of Margaret of Valois, known as "Queen Margot." She was the daughter of King Henry II of France and was married to Henry of Navarre, who later became King Henry IV of France. Margaret of Valois was born in 1553 and played a significant role in the French Wars of Religion.
Another famous figure with the name Savoy was Victor Amadeus II, who ruled as the Duke of Savoy from 1675 to 1730. He was instrumental in expanding the territory of Savoy and played a crucial role in the War of the Spanish Succession. Under his rule, Savoy became a major European power and was elevated to the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1720.
In the 19th century, the name Savoy gained popularity in literature and art. One of the most notable figures was the French writer and critic Sainte-Beuve, whose real name was Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve. He was born in 1804 and is considered one of the greatest literary critics of the 19th century.
While the name Savoy has its roots in the French region, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and languages over the centuries. The name continues to hold historical significance and is associated with the rich cultural heritage of the Savoy region in eastern France.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Savoy
People
Savoy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Savoy 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
Savoy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Savoy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Savoy 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 1,872,975 US residents.
Is Savoy a common name?
We classify Savoy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 188 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Savoy most popular?
The single biggest year for Savoy was 1992, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Savoy 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 Savoy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 328 people with the name Savoy, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,731 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 Savoy 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 Savoy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Savoy on both sides of the split. Of the 332 people counted with this name, 221 were male (66.6%) and 111 were female (33.4%). 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 Savoy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Savoy is Black at 59.5%. The next largest groups are White (24.1%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Savoy most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Savoy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.5% (195 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 Savoy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Savoy a male name?
Yes, 93.6% of people registered as Savoy 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 Savoy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Savoy 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 Savoy 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 named Savoy?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.