Sommer
A feminine German name meaning "summer" or "summer season".
Name Census estimates that about 5,766 living Americans carry the first name Sommer. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sommer today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sommer births was 1977 (464 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sommer. 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 Sommer with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.8K
~ 1 in 59,444 Americans
Peak year
1977
464 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,636
Tracked since 1966
Census
Sommer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,090 people with the first name Sommer, which placed it at #3,862 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
#3,862
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,090 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sommer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sommer is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Sommer 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 Sommer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.7% · 3,698
- Black or African American12.7% · 646
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 301
- Two or more races5.8% · 294
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 67
Popularity
Sommer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sommer from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 1,549 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sommer 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 Sommer during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sommers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sommer, while Delaware, Nevada, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 102 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sommer
The given name Sommer originates from the German language, derived from the word "Sommer" which translates to "summer" in English. This name has its roots in the Germanic culture, emerging during the medieval period in central Europe.
The name Sommer is believed to have been initially used as a descriptive term, referring to a person born or associated with the summer season. It may have been a nickname or a surname before becoming a commonly accepted given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sommer can be found in the German town records from the 14th century. It was primarily used as a surname during that time, often given to families or individuals who lived near a summer residence or were associated with summer activities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sommer. One prominent figure was Sommer Brodersen (1679-1738), a Danish painter known for his landscape and portrait works during the Baroque era. Another was Sommer Johansen (1892-1954), a Norwegian speed skater who competed in the 1924 and 1928 Winter Olympics, winning a silver medal.
In the realm of literature, Sommer Browning (1914-1986) was an American librarian and writer who authored several children's books, including the acclaimed "Samantha" series. Sommer Marsden (born 1979) is a contemporary British author and editor, known for her erotic fiction and poetry.
Sommer Ray (born 1996) is a modern American model, social media influencer, and entrepreneur, known for her fitness and lifestyle content on various platforms.
While the name Sommer may have originated from a descriptive term, it has evolved into a popular given name, particularly in German-speaking regions and countries with Germanic cultural influences.
People
Sommer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sommer 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
Sommer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sommer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,766 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sommer 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 59,444 US residents.
Is Sommer a common name?
We classify Sommer as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,053 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sommer most popular?
The single biggest year for Sommer was 1977, when 464 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sommer is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sommer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,090 people with the name Sommer, or 1.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,862 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 Sommer 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 Sommer?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sommer appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,081 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Sommer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sommer is White at 72.7%. The next largest groups are Black (12.7%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Sommer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sommer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.7% (3,698 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 Sommer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sommer a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sommer 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 Sommer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sommer 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 Sommer 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 have the name Sommer?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Sommer, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.