Savannah
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Meaning
"treeless plain," from the Taino word zavana by way of Spanish sabana; the grassland word became a graceful Georgia port city, and the city became a name. Southern in flavor, tropical in root, steady since the 1990s
The story
Savannah traveled a long way to reach the nursery. It began as zavana, a Taino word for a treeless plain, passed through Spanish as sabana, and became the English word for open tropical grassland. Georgia gave the word its proper-noun career, lending it to the graceful port city whose oak-shaded squares still trade in romance. As a girls' name it flickered around 1900, spent half a century away from the records, then returned in the 1980s and rose quickly through the 1990s to a 2000s peak, arriving with the broader wave of Southern and place names, Sierra and Cheyenne among them. Hollywood may have helped: the 1982 film Savannah Smiles put the name on screens just before the first stirrings, though that connection is more guess than fact. The curve has settled somewhat since, leaving a name with a singular resume: tropical in root, Spanish in passage, and thoroughly Southern in effect.
How popular is Savannah around the world?
In the United States, 17,492 babies were named Savannah between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 29 girls were registered as Savannah in 2017.
Savannah is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Scotland, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, France, Austria, Mexico City, Spain and Brazil.
United States
1 in 1,200
In the United States, 17,492 babies were named Savannah between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Savannah peaked in the 2000s. Savannah went to 5,476 US babies in 2015 and 2,141 in 2025, 39% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 6302017
In South Australia, 29 girls were registered as Savannah in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 2,300
In Scotland, 20 girls named Savannah were registered in 2024, the 193rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Canada
1 in 2,500
In Canada, 144 girls named Savannah were born in 2024, the 200th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 2,800
In England and Wales, 211 girls named Savannah were born in 2025, the 222nd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 3,900
In Ireland, 14 girls named Savannah were born in 2025, the 294th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
New Zealand
1 in 4,800
In New Zealand, 12 girls named Savannah were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Norway
1 in 5,300register 2026
In Norway, 5 girls were given the name Savannah in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
France
1 in 21,000
In France, about 30 girls named Savannah were born in 2025, ranked 1,228th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 girl named Savannah was born in 2025, ranked 1,875th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Mexico City City
1 in 120,000
In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Savannah in 2022.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 550,000
In Spain, 81 residents are named Savannah, ranked 9,251st among women, with a mean age of 11.2 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2019
Savannah is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 78 people in Brazil were named Savannah, ranked 49,053rd, with a median age of 14.
Among people named Savannah living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 21 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Savannah is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Poland
last on record 2023
Savannah is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
When you meet Savannah
Most people given the name Savannah in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Savannah · Names that go with Savannah · Middle names for Savannah · Climbers and fallers
The Savannah deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Savannah 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 Savannah fits with your family’s names and surname.
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