Sawyer
Sawyer was the 122nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 2,941 babies. Its best year was 2015, when it ranked 94th with 4,272 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 28 places. More babies were named Sawyer in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning one who saws wood (surname) · English
Say it SAW-yer /ˈsɔjər/
- Rank in 2025
- #122 boys, down 6 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 2,941boys
- Girls and boys
- 29% girls, 71% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20154,272 babies
- Total since 1880
- 84,176babies recorded
What does the name Sawyer mean?
Sawyer is an English occupational surname for a man who sawed timber for a living. The word is Middle English sawyer or sawier, from saw plus an agent ending, and Wiktionary notes that some American Sawyer families took the name as an English equivalent of similar surnames from other languages, such as German Seger or Slovene Žagar. As a first name it is a transferred surname, used for both boys and girls, according to Wikipedia.
sawyer (Middle English, “one who saws timber”)
How sure is this? Well established.
See also: English names, names from occupations.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Sawyer', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wiktionary, entry 'sawyer', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wikipedia, 'Sawyer (given name)', Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Sawyer popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #291 | #122 | 1,056 | 2,941 |
| 2020 | #239 | #116 | 1,259 | 3,189 |
| 2010 | #788 | #173 | 350 | 2,220 |
| 2000 | #2,047 | #461 | 81 | 517 |
| 1990 | #5,777 | #1,132 | 16 | 91 |
| 1980 | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Sawyer, counting every spelling?
Sawyer has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #127 for boys in 2025, against #122 on the official list, because Kayden/Kaiden/Caden and Elliot/Elliott/Eliot and Kayson/Kaison/Kaysen move ahead once their spellings are combined.
How many kids will share the name Sawyer?
2,941 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Sawyer (0.82 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Sawyer born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 3 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Sawyer.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Sawyer?
About 65,200 people born in the US named Sawyer are alive today, with a median age of 10; half are between 6 and 15. That makes Sawyer a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Sawyer by state
How common Sawyer was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Wyoming (5.3×), Vermont (5.1×), Maine (4.6×), Montana (3.8×), North Dakota (3.7×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Jersey, California, Rhode Island.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Sawyer: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Sawyer, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Sawyer · Sibling names for Sawyer
Questions about the name Sawyer
What does Sawyer mean?
Sawyer means “one who saws wood (surname)” (English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Sawyer?
Sawyer was the 122nd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 2,941 babies. Its best year was 2015, when it ranked 94th with 4,272 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 28 places. More babies were named Sawyer in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Sawyer a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 29% girls, 71% boys given the name Sawyer in the US.
Where is Sawyer most popular?
In 2021–2025, Sawyer was most common in Wyoming (8.99 per 1,000 boys), followed by Vermont and Maine.