Seymore
A masculine name of French origin meaning "to see more".
Name Census estimates that about 28 living Americans carry the first name Seymore. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Seymore today is around 89 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seymore births was 1920 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seymore. 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
- • The typical person named Seymore is about 89 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Seymores were born before 1947.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Seymore. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
28
~ 1 in 12,241,226 Americans
Peak year
1920
16 babies that year
Average age
89
years old
1946 SSA rank
#3,477
Tracked since 1912
Census
Seymore in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Seymore, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seymore
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seymore is Black at 56.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.6%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Seymore 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 Seymore at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.6% · 73
- White32.6% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 4
- Two or more races3.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Seymore: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seymore from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Seymore 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 Seymore during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Seymores live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seymore
The name Seymore is an English given name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French "Saintor" or "Sayntoer", meaning "holy traveler" or "pilgrim". The name is believed to have been brought to England by Norman settlers after the conquest of 1066.
In its earliest recorded form, the name was spelled "Seintmor" or "Seyntmor". Over time, various spelling variations emerged, including "Seymour", "Seymor", and the modern "Seymore". The name was initially more common among the aristocracy and landed gentry but eventually spread to other social classes.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Sir John Seymour (c. 1476 – 1536), a courtier and landowner in Wiltshire, England. He was the father of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. Their son, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500 – 1552), played a significant role in the English Reformation and served as Lord Protector during the minority of his nephew, Edward VI.
Another notable figure was Sir Edward Seymour (1633 – 1708), a British naval officer and colonial governor of Maryland and Virginia. He was instrumental in the successful defense of Virginia against Dutch and French attacks during the late 17th century.
In the realm of literature, one of the earliest examples of the name's use was in the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", where a character named Sir Seymor is mentioned.
Other notable bearers of the name throughout history include:
1. Sir Michael Seymour (1768 – 1834), a British naval officer and diplomat who served in the Napoleonic Wars.
2. Seymour Haden (1818 – 1910), an English surgeon, etcher, and writer.
3. Seymour Berkson (1913 – 1988), an American statistician and epidemiologist known for his contributions to biostatistics.
4. Seymour Cray (1925 – 1996), an American computer engineer and entrepreneur, often referred to as the "father of supercomputing".
5. Seymour Hersh (born 1937), an American investigative journalist and author, best known for his reporting on the My Lai Massacre and Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal.
While the name Seymore has its roots in medieval England, its usage has spread to various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, making it a part of the global onomastic landscape.
People
Seymore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seymore 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
Seymore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seymore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seymore 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 12,241,226 US residents.
Is Seymore a common name?
We classify Seymore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 45.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 259 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seymore most popular?
The single biggest year for Seymore was 1920, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seymore is about 89 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seymore in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Seymore, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Seymore 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 Seymore?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seymore leans strongly male. 127 people counted with this name were male (94.8%), compared with 7 female bearers (5.2%). 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 Seymore?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seymore is Black at 56.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.6%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Seymore most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Seymore in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (73 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 Seymore in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seymore a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Seymore 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 Seymore still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seymore 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 Seymore 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 Seymore?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.