Fun Facts About the Name Snow
- More than 1 thousand babies named Snow: U.S. records list 1,133 babies given the name Snow from 1880 through 2025. Even 67 boys received the name Snow - about 1 boy for every 16 girls.
What Does the Name Snow Mean?
Snow is the ordinary English word for frozen precipitation, used unchanged as a given name. It comes from Old English snāw, a word of Germanic origin that traces back to a reconstructed Indo-European root, *sniegʷh-, with the same meaning. The same root yielded Old Norse snjór, Old Saxon and Old High German snēo, modern German Schnee, and Dutch sneeuw.
Because the name is identical to the noun, it belongs with English word names taken directly from nature and everyday life, such as Dawn or Pearl, rather than to a name inherited from an older personal-name stock. Snow is also an English surname, and the given name has sometimes been handed down from that side of a family; surname references usually explain it as a nickname for a person with white or very pale hair or complexion, a customary explanation of surname origins rather than a record of any particular family.
Snow Name History & Origins
Old English snāw is found in prose and verse, and the word passed through Middle English snaw into the modern form snow with little change in sound or spelling. Its Germanic relatives include Old Norse snjór and snær, Old Saxon and Old High German snēo, and Gothic snaiws.
As a personal name, Snow follows the pattern of English word names drawn from nature. It is recorded chiefly for girls, and it also occurs as a middle name. Its use rests on the everyday noun, so there is no separate medieval or biblical line of descent behind it.
The surname Snow has its own history, and some people given the first name Snow received it from a family surname. English surname references typically explain Snow as a nickname for someone with white hair or a pale complexion. In Ireland, Snow has also been used as an anglicized spelling of Gaelic surnames, including Ó Snodaigh, where the English word was matched to an unrelated Irish name by sound rather than by meaning.
Two well-known literary figures carry the word rather than the given name. Snow White, the fairy-tale heroine, is Schneewittchen in German, a compound whose first element is the German cognate Schnee; the Brothers Grimm printed the tale in 1812. In George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, beginning in 1996, Snow is the surname given to children born outside marriage in the North of Westeros. Neither use is the origin of the English given name, which comes from the ordinary noun.
How Popular is the Name Snow?
Snow 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 2014. Its best rank was #1,469 in 1894.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,056 | 36 | 0.0022% |
| 2024 | #3,625 | 43 | 0.0027% |
| 2023 | #3,634 | 43 | 0.0027% |
| 2022 | #3,067 | 54 | 0.0033% |
| 2021 | #2,995 | 56 | 0.0034% |
| 2020 | #3,270 | 48 | 0.0030% |
| 2019 | #3,325 | 48 | 0.0029% |
| 2018 | #2,642 | 66 | 0.0039% |
| 2017 | #2,832 | 60 | 0.0035% |
| 2016 | #3,053 | 55 | 0.0031% |
| 2015 | #2,962 | 59 | 0.0033% |
| 2014 | #2,346 | 79 | 0.0044% |
| 2013 | #2,899 | 59 | 0.0034% |
| 2012 | #4,282 | 35 | 0.0020% |
| 2011 | #9,073 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2010 | #8,234 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2009 | #8,828 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2008 | #7,704 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2007 | #10,060 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #7,443 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2005 | #18,802 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2004 | #11,493 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #8,986 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2002 | #12,047 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #15,090 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #11,651 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #11,233 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1998 | #13,879 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1996 | #11,642 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #15,433 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1992 | #13,144 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #12,245 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #10,091 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1982 | #9,078 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1981 | #8,038 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1979 | #11,691 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #8,430 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1976 | #9,080 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1975 | #8,893 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1972 | #6,464 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #4,846 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #3,667 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1932 | #5,002 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1930 | #4,499 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1928 | #4,141 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1927 | #5,516 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1921 | #5,023 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1920 | #5,663 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1918 | #5,485 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1916 | #4,343 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1914 | #3,554 | 6 | 0.0008% |
| 1905 | #2,194 | 5 | 0.0017% |
| 1902 | #1,572 | 7 | 0.0027% |
| 1901 | #1,912 | 5 | 0.0021% |
| 1900 | #1,901 | 6 | 0.0020% |
| 1898 | #1,488 | 7 | 0.0027% |
| 1894 | #1,469 | 6 | 0.0027% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | #6,759 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #6,768 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #8,621 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2018 | #11,933 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #12,018 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #8,707 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2014 | #11,905 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1914 | #3,692 | 5 | 0.0008% |
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 Snow 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 frank, methodical and believe in law, system and order.
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.
✦ Snow's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Snow's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.