Fun Facts About the Name Savas
- 59 babies named Savas: U.S. records list 59 babies given the name Savas from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Savas Mean?
Savas reflects two unrelated names that happen to share a spelling in English. In Turkish, Savaş is an ordinary word meaning "war" or "combat," formed from the Turkic verb savaş-, "to fight." Used as a given name in Turkey, it carries that plain, literal sense. In Greek, Savas (Σάββας) is the modern form of the older name Sabbas, which is Semitic rather than Greek in origin. The usual explanation traces it to Aramaic sāḇāʾ, "old man" or "elder." A competing explanation connects it to Hebrew shabbat, the Sabbath, based on a tradition that the saint who popularized the name was born on a Sabbath day. Both explanations are Semitic and the older derivation is not fully settled.
Savas Name History & Origins
The Greek name came into Christian use through Saint Sabbas the Sanctified (439 - 532), a Cappadocian monk who founded a large monastery in the Judaean desert, Mar Saba, which is still inhabited by monks. From that monastic center the name spread through the Orthodox world: it appears as Savva in Russian and as Sabas in Latin texts. In Greek, the doubled beta of Σάββας came to be pronounced as a "v" sound, giving the modern form Savas, which is used in Greece today as both a given name and a surname. Because the Greek form ends in a simple "s," it sounds different from the Turkish name despite the matching English letters.
Turkish Savaş belongs to a separate tradition. It is a native Turkic word, not a borrowing, and it appears both as a given name and as a surname in Turkey. Its final letter, ş, is pronounced "sh," so the Turkish name ends in a different sound than the Greek one. Compounds built on the same root, such as savaşçı ("warrior"), show how the word operates in ordinary Turkish vocabulary.
How Popular is the Name Savas?
Savas has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1980. Its best rank was #4,247 in 1931.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | #14,252 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2007 | #14,037 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 2003 | #10,648 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #11,312 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1988 | #7,103 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1987 | #7,931 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #5,418 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1973 | #5,752 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #4,434 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1931 | #4,247 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1930 | #4,465 | 5 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Savas Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are spiritually intense and can sting or charm. Your name brings love and new starts into life and attracts money. In business, you are the creator and promoter of original ideas and usually enjoy considerable financial success. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Savas's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Savas's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.