Boy names that start with S
S is one of the deepest letters on this site, and the top of it is unusually strong: Sebastian and Samuel both sit inside the U.S. top 20. Look past them and the letter stretches from Swahili Simba to the Finnish Sampo. Forty S names follow, each linked to a full entry.
Most popular S names right now
These four are the only S names in the current U.S. Social Security top 100, shown at their real positions.
- #16Sebastianse-BAS-chunLatin
Venerable, revered, by way of the city of Sebaste. The martyr saint carried it across Europe.
- #18SamuelSAM-yoo-ulHebrew
God has heard. The prophet who anointed Israel's first two kings, and a name that has never gone out of use.
- #26Santiagosan-tee-AH-gohSpanish
Saint James, apostle and title fused into a single word. The end point of the Camino pilgrimage in Galicia.
- #71SilasSY-lusBiblical
Of the forest, via Silvanus, or asked for if the Aramaic reading is right. Paul's travelling companion in Acts.
Classic S names
- SimonSY-munHebrew
He has heard. Peter was Simon first, before the renaming in the Gospels.
- StephenSTEE-vunGreek
Crown, and specifically the wreath given to a victor. The first Christian martyr bore it.
- SolomonSOL-uh-munHebrew
Peace; peaceable. David's son, proverbial ever since for judgement and wisdom.
- SamsonSAM-sunHebrew
Of the sun, sunlike. The judge whose strength was bound up in his uncut hair.
- SaulSAWLHebrew
Asked for; prayed for. Israel's first king, and the apostle Paul's name at birth.
- SethSETHHebrew
Appointed, placed. Adam and Eve's third son, given in place of Abel.
- StanleySTAN-leeEnglish
Stony clearing. Place name to surname to first name, the standard English route.
- SpencerSPEN-serEnglish
Keeper of the provisions; the household steward. Diana, Princess of Wales, was born a Spencer.
- StuartSTOO-urtScottish
Steward. The royal house that held Scotland from 1371 and England from 1603.
Irish and Scottish S names
- SeanSHAWNIrish
God is gracious. The Irish John, taken not from Latin but from Norman-French Jehan.
- SeamusSHAY-musIrish
The Irish James, traditionally glossed as supplanter. Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize in 1995.
- ShaneSHAYNIrish
God is gracious again, spelled the way the name is said in Ulster.
- SullivanSUL-ih-vunIrish
Traditionally read as dark-eyed or one-eyed. O'Sullivan is among the commonest surnames in Ireland.
- ScottSKOTScottish
A Gael; a Scotsman. A mid-century American favourite now well outside the top 100.
S names from around the world
- Salvatoresal-va-TOR-ehItalian
Saviour. A title before it was a name, and a Sicilian household fixture.
- Sergeisir-GAYRussian
From the Roman clan name Sergius, whose original sense is unrecoverable. Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev shared it.
- SándorSHAHN-dorHungarian
The Hungarian Alexander. Sandor Petofi was the poet of the 1848 revolution.
- Stanisławstah-NEE-swahfPolish
He who becomes glorious. Saint Stanislaus is one of Poland's patron saints.
- Shahinshah-HEENPersian
Royal falcon, and specifically the peregrine that hunted for Persian kings.
- Salimsah-LEEMArabic
Safe, sound, whole, unblemished. Built on the root s-l-m, the same three letters behind salaam.
- SuryaSOOR-yahSanskrit
The sun, and the sun god who drives it across the sky in a seven-horse chariot.
- SoraSOH-rahJapanese
Sky. One of the few Japanese names whose meaning is fixed rather than chosen with the characters.
- SiphoSEE-pohZulu
A gift. Short, warm, and unambiguous in its own language.
- SimbaSEEM-bahSwahili
Lion, and by extension a brave or formidable person.
- SorenSOR-enDanish
Traditionally read as stern or serious. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard is its best-known bearer.
- SvenSVENSwedish
Young man, lad, squire. It began as an ordinary word for a man in service and ended as a name.
Unique S names
- SterlingSTUR-lingEnglish
Of standard quality; genuine. The same word that certifies the pound and the silver.
- StormSTORMDanish
Storm. It started life as a byname for a man of violent temper.
- StellanSTEL-lahnSwedish
Unknown; no derivation has ever been established. The actor Stellan Skarsgard carries it.
- SigurdSIG-urdNorse
Guardian of victory. The dragon-slayer at the centre of the Volsunga saga.
- Sohrabsoh-RAHBPersian
Shining, illustrious. Rostam's son in the Shahnameh, killed by a father who did not know him.
- ShantSHAHNTArmenian
Lightning; a thunderbolt. One syllable with a storm inside it.
- SizweSEE-zwehXhosa
Nation; people. A name with a collective rather than an individual meaning.
- SuloSOO-lohFinnish
Charm, grace, sweetness. Finnish is unusually willing to name a boy for a quality like this.
- SetiSET-eeAncient Egyptian
He of Set. Seti I was the father of Ramses II and left one of the finest tombs in Egypt.
- SampoSAHM-poFinnish
The magic mill of plenty forged by Ilmarinen in the Kalevala. The word itself has never been explained.