Given name & surname · also Ancient Greek
Sem
“God has heard”·“asked of God”·“one who listens well”
Sem is a masculine given name from Ancient Greek, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Dutch, Azerbaijani, and Latin.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Sem is a romanization of Sam. Sam is a diminutive of Samuel. Suggested meanings include “God has heard” and “asked of God.” The exact derivation is not certain. In English use, Sam is a diminutive of Simon. One Hebrew interpretation is “God has heard.” In English use, Sam is a diminutive of Samantha. One Aramaic interpretation is “one who listens well.” Its derivation is not certain.
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Sem comes from Ancient Greek, and ultimately from Biblical Hebrew.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Ancient Greek Σήμ, from Biblical Hebrew שֵׁם (šem).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1982. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sem through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 215
- 215 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2006
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 12 in 2006. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 494 as a first name in 2020; 997 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sem’s family of names
In Latin usage, Sem has a related form in Semus. In Latin usage, Sem has a related form in Sēmus. In Macedonian usage, Sem is a Roman-alphabet rendering of Сем.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Sem has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Sem
- Sem BenelliItalian playwright, essayist and librettist (1877–1949)
- Sem SteijnDutch association football playerborn 2001
- Sem VerbeekDutch tennis player (1994-)
- Sem DresdenDutch composer (1881-1957)
- Sem SchepermanDutch footballer (born 2002)
- Shem Tob ben Isaac ArdutielCastilian writer1290–1369
- Sem ShilimelaNamibian sport wrestlerborn 1991
- Sem van DuijnDutch footballer (born 2004)
- Sem de WitDutch footballerborn 1995
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Sem, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Matej
Matej is a masculine given name from Latin, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, and Slovene.
>99% boys
Hannes
“God is gracious”
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Yohanes
Yohanes is a masculine given name from Dutch, ultimately from Biblical Hebrew. It is used in Indonesian.
>99% boys
Nethaniah
“Yah has given”
>99% boys
Tahan
“encampment”
>99% boys
Jusuf
“to add”
>99% boys
Jomar
“God will add”
>99% boys
Eelis
“Jehovah is my God”
>99% boys