San
A boys’ name with no widely documented etymology — one syllable, given to 6 babies a year in England and Wales.
San by the numbers
In 2025, 6 babies in England and Wales were named San. In the US, 5 were, though that figure is from 2017, the most recent full year we hold.
For the size of the two countries, it is given several times more often in England and Wales than in the US.
Its American peak was 66 babies in 1950, so it is a 1950s name that has since fallen a long way.
What we can tell you about San
Not every name has a meaning to trace. Plenty are coined rather than inherited — invented outright, blended from two names, or respelled from an older one — and where we cannot find an etymology we can stand behind, we would rather say so than make one up. What follows comes from the birth records themselves.
Spelled almost the same
Other names in the records within a letter or two of San. Close spellings are not always related names, but they are usually worth seeing together.
- Seangod is gracious; irish form of John1,469 in the US (2017)
- SamGod has heard; form of Samuel115 in England and Wales (2025)
- Sailord; a form of sayi27 in England and Wales (2025)
- Sunthe star at centre of solar system13 in the US (2017)
- Stanstone; a form of Stanley or Stanford11 in the US (2017)
- Salsalt; or short form of Salvatore6 in the US (2017)