Sam is a short form of Samuel, which has Hebrew origins and means 'name of God'. It is also sometimes used as an independent given name. The name gained significant popularity in the United States during the mid-20th century, peaking in usage in the 1950s. Sam is traditionally considered masculine, but it can also be used for females due to its unisex nature.
These statistics show a fluctuating trend in the number of births named Sam over time. The highest recorded year was 1919 with 36 births, while some years saw only a single-digit number of births, such as 7 births in 1890 and again in 1967. The total number of births named Sam over this period is 1533.