Samir
The story
Samir means "companion in evening talk" in Arabic, from the root samara, "to talk in the evening", and Behind the Name adds a fine-grained note: the English spelling covers two related Arabic names, one with the second vowel long, one with the first. The American record climbs without a single completed-decade dip: about 5 boys in the 1950s, about 560 in the 1970s, about 1,300 in the 1990s, about 3,100 in the 2010s, and about 2,700 so far this decade. Brazil has its own older Samir story, about 2,500 born in the 1980s alone, with a median age of 34. Few meanings are this specific or this warm: not a warrior, not a king, just the friend whose conversation you want after dark.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Samir peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
9,409 people · the #1,802 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 21,739 · median age 34
Among people named Samir living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 405 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Samir
Most people given the name Samir in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Samir deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Samir truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Samir fits with your family’s names and surname.
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