Santa

Name: Santa: recorded bearers, distribution and rank
Creator: Mondonomo
Published: 2026-09-12

loc · English · Latin script

Recorded as a female name· opposite-gender records fall within measured source noise

Santa is a name, most frequently recorded in India, where it is the 42nd most common given name. It appears chiefly in English and Spanish, written in the Latin script. Recorded meaning: A general of Parakkamabāhu I.

rarermore common

SVEl Salvador1 in 17◐
HNHonduras1 in 17
BOBolivia1 in 20

carrying the name, one hue, darker where it is more common. Hover a country for its figure.

: ≈119K ●
: #389 ●
: 7 ●
Sources: 519 ●
: 1 in 329 ◐

Spellings & scripts●

SantaLatin · Spanish●3.8M records

סנדיHebrew · Hebrew●3.1K records

СандиCyrillic · Russian●536 records

ชานิตThai · Thai●52 records

ΣανταGreek · Greek●3 records

산타Hangul · Korean●2 records

සාන්තSinhala · Sinhala●0 records

6 other spellings are counted as the same name:

Locally spelled Sandy in US United States, GB United Kingdom, CA Canada and 8 more, Shanti in IN India, MY Malaysia, ID Indonesia and סנדי in FR France, IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

A general of Parakkamabāhu I. He is called Jitagiri, and was in charge of the Vihāravajjasāia ford.’

Sources 1

Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol II (N-H)

Attested across 21 languages in the etymology graph.

Where in the world●

Sorted by bearers counted by national registers, records where none counts.

Where Santa is recorded, by country
Country						Most common spelling	Sources
IN India	#42	4,763,719	1.9M rec.	—	189K	Shanti	158
SV El Salvador	—	1,155,078	1.9K rec.	—	—	Santa	12
PE Peru	—	629,280	150K rec.	—	—	Santa	58
PY Paraguay	—	337,518	7.4K rec.	—	—	Santa	18
BO Bolivia	—	325,966	1.7K rec.	—	—	Santa	24
MX Mexico	—	318,490	90K rec.	—	200	Santa	107
AR Argentina	—	198,015	124K rec.	—	18K	Santa	72
GT Guatemala	—	187,944	3.4K rec.	—	—	Santa	21
HN Honduras	—	168,052	3.3K rec.	—	—	Santa	12
CO Colombia	—	111,134	6K rec.	—	—	Santa	95
US United States	#379	69,154	1.2M rec.	1 in 4.8K	69K	Sandy	519
GB United Kingdom	#461	52,851	55K rec.	—	4	Sandy	194
CA Canada	#300	43,868	45K rec.	—	8	Sandy	200
AU Australia	#446	39,123	40K rec.	—	4	Sandy	205
DE Germany	#537	29,363	28K rec.	—	—	Sandy	158
PH Philippines	#866	24,098	29K rec.	—	—	Sandy	90
IT Italy	#729	18,973	11K rec.	—	9	Santa	79
BR Brazil	—	17,650△	49 rec.	1 in 12K	23K	Sandy	6
FR France	—	15,950△	92 rec.	1 in 4.3K	16K	סנדי	6
EG Egypt	#484	10,518	4.7K rec.	—	—	Sandy	74
EC Ecuador	#896	8,521△	698 rec.	1 in 2K	8.5K	Sandy	42
VE Venezuela	—	8,060	21K rec.	—	—	Sandy	24
MY Malaysia	#786	6,462	7.7K rec.	—	—	Shanti	55
LV Latvia	—	5,721△	669 rec.	1 in 329	5.7K	Santa	59
IL Israel	—	3,630	5.7K rec.	—	497	סנדי	48
ID Indonesia	—	3,594	1.7K rec.	—	listed	Shanti	113
ES Spain	—	1,287	18K rec.	1 in 39K	1.6K	Santa	110
CR Costa Rica	—	411	324 rec.	1 in 12K	18K	—	15
NL Netherlands	#846	85	5.3K rec.	1 in 203K	2.6K	Sandy	95
DO Dominican Republic	—	—	3.9K rec.	—	16K	—	31
NO Norway	—	—	—	—	232	—	—
SE Sweden	—	—	—	—	105	—	—
CH Switzerland	—	—	—	—	96	—	—
PL Poland	—	—	—	—	68	—	—
AL Albania	—	—	—	—	19	—	—
IS Iceland	—	—	—	—	15	—	—
BE Belgium	—	—	—	—	11	—	—
CZ Czechia	—	—	—	—	4	—	—
MD Moldova	—	—	—	—	1	—	—
EE Estonia	—	—	—	—	29	—	—
LT Lithuania	—	—	—	—	listed	—	—
FI Finland	—	—	—	—	139	—	—
DK Denmark	—	—	—	—	55	—	—
HR Croatia	—	—	—	—	17	—	—
GY Guyana	—	—	—	—	10	—	—
KN St. Kitts & Nevis	—	—	—	—	8	—	—
VC St. Vincent & Grenadines	—	—	—	—	7	—	—

Country figures for a list of names, at full precision, are available under licence rather than by scraping this table. How that works.

Languages●

English4.3M14%
Spanish3.8M13%
Portuguese427K1%
Italian11K1%
Hindi7K1%

Show as table

Languages in which the name is recorded
Name	Records	Note
English	4,329,516	14%
Spanish	3,798,646	13%
Portuguese	426,760	1%
Italian	11,498	1%
Hindi	7,009	1%

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Santa is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

English surname166K records spelled Santa19 spellings in the group
Most recorded in United States, Canada, Anguilla, United Kingdom
Languages: English, German, Dutch
Also written Sánta, Šanta, Şanta, Säntä, Șanta
a separate name39K records spelled Santa11 spellings in the group
Also written Șanta, Sānta, Santā, Śāntā, Sāntā
Hungarian name2.9K records spelled Santa4 spellings in the group
Most recorded in Hungary, Finland, Estonia
Languages: Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian
Also written Sánta

68 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Santa is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

In pi, Fifty -seven kappas ago there were four kings of this name, previous births of Tissa Thera.1
as a nameDictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol II (N-H)
In Spanish, Saint (title), feminine singular of San
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
In English, Ellipsis of Santa Claus.
as a wordkaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)
Catholic inspiration
as a nameDicionario Sefaradi De SobrenomesDictionary Of Sephardic Surnames Inclusive Cristaos-Novos, Conversos, Marranos, Italianos,…
In Italian, forma usada antes de nomes de santas
as a nameDicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

Show as table

Santa in SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present), United States, 1896–2025
Year	records
1896	6
1899	6
1900	5
1901	6
1904	16
1905	8
1906	5
1907	15
1908	20
1909	13
1910	18
1911	26
1912	26
1913	40
1914	59
1915	85
1916	88
1917	74
1918	66
1919	74
1920	71
1921	74
1922	70
1923	89
1924	88
1925	82
1926	70
1927	71
1928	66
1929	54
1930	68
1931	54
1932	36
1933	48
1934	48
1935	32
1936	48
1937	41
1938	41
1939	37
1940	31
1941	30
1942	47
1943	32
1944	27
1945	44
1946	35
1947	44
1948	49
1949	42
1950	55
1951	48
1952	44
1953	39
1954	62
1955	50
1956	44
1957	56
1958	47
1959	32
1960	52
1961	60
1962	44
1963	34
1964	44
1965	46
1966	44
1967	39
1968	38
1969	52
1970	50
1971	41
1972	43
1973	44
1974	38
1975	41
1976	45
1977	36
1978	45
1979	56
1980	43
1981	30
1982	29
1983	35
1984	27
1985	28
1986	24
1987	22
1988	18
1989	20
1990	21
1991	24
1992	24
1993	22
1994	24
1995	21
1996	27
1997	19
1998	20
1999	14
2000	5
2001	10
2002	14
2003	6
2004	9
2005	11
2006	20
2007	11
2008	15
2009	12
2010	10
2011	9
2012	11
2013	12
2014	6
2015	11
2016	10
2017	11
2018	9
2019	8
2020	9
2021	5
2022	11
2023	12
2024	24
2025	13

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 126 years between 1896–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

Ferenc Sántab. 1927HUHungarian writer (1927-2008)
Ferenc Sánta Jr.b. 1945HUHungarian violinist (1945–2024)
Santa Onob. 1962CACanadian-American immunologist
Thierry Santab. 1967FRFrench politician
Santa Scoreseb. 1968ITItalian student and Catholic activist (1968–1991)
Santa Montefioreb. 1970GBBritish author
Natalia Santab. 1977COColombian film director
Carlos Santab. 1978DOathletics competitor
Inés Melchorb. 1986PEnot in their usual namePeruvian long-distance runner
Santa Dimopulosb. 1987UAUkrainian singer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Attested in 84 sources across 42 countries.

Official registers attesting Santa
Country	Register	Year	Count	Rank
BR Brazil	IBGE — Nomes (census name API)	—	23K	#1,275
AR Argentina	RENAPER — Apellidos (person counts, national)	—	18K	—
BR Brazil	IBGE — names by decade (Kaggle mirror)	2022	18K	—
BR Brazil	IBGE — Censo 2022 Nomes no Brasil per-token lookup (v3 API, given+surname)	—	18K	#1,152
DO Dominican Republic	JCE — Nombres más registrados (annual)	2025	16K	#11
US United States	Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex	2020	9.7K	#2,443
LV Latvia	PMLP — Personu vārdi (given names in population register)	—	5.7K	—
LV Latvia	PMLP — Personvārdu meklētājs (per-name population-register lookup)	—	5.7K	#83
US United States	Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2010	2010	2.7K	#11,493
US United States	Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2020	2020	2.4K	#12,466
US United States	Census Bureau — Surname Frequency 2000	2000	2.1K	#13,522
ES Spain	INE — Apellidos más frecuentes (Padrón Municipal)	—	1.6K	#2,868
ES Spain	INE — Padrón per-token widgets (current living counts, given + apellidos)	—	1.6K	#2,866
ES Spain	INE — Nombres más frecuentes (Padrón Municipal)	—	1.3K	#1,174
ES Spain	INE — Padrón per-token widgets (current living counts, given + apellidos)	—	1.3K	#2,409
DO Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic — Nombres más comunes registrados 2022-2023	2023	997	#5
US United States	Census Bureau — First Name Frequency 2020 by sex	2020	481	#2,443
NO Norway	SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population)	—	232	#4,287
IN India	Instate — India surnames (clean spellings) from electoral rolls	—	207	#17,335
MX Mexico	RENAPO — name frequencies (eduardofv dataset)	—	200	#434
FR France	INSEE — Fichier des prénoms (1900–2024)	2023	185	#3,318
FI Finland	DVV — Nimipalvelu (Finnish name service, per-name lookup)	—	139	#14,921
MX Mexico	RENAPO — name frequencies (eduardofv dataset)	—	128	#1,561
CR Costa Rica	TSE — electoral roll (padrón) names	—	124	#1,894
SE Sweden	Skatteverket — Sök hur många som har ett visst namn (living population)	—	105	#8,254
CH Switzerland	BFS — Familiennamen der Wohnbevölkerung (surnames)	2024	96	#11,432
BR Brazil	IBGE — Censo 2022 Nomes no Brasil per-token lookup (v3 API, given+surname)	—	96	#1,152
FI Finland	DVV — Nimipalvelu (Finnish name service, per-name lookup)	—	93	#5,661
SE Sweden	SCB — Namnstatistik (to 2023)	2020	77	—
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL living persons (names)	—	68	#1,935
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL given names (first + second name position, 2026-01-20)	2026	68	#1,935
DK Denmark	Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts)	—	55	#2,434
FI Finland	DVV — Nimipalvelu (Finnish name service, per-name lookup)	—	35	#12,978
EE Estonia	Statistics Estonia — per-name Population Register counts (nimed)	—	29	#1,398
BR Brazil	IBGE — Censo 2022 Nomes no Brasil per-token lookup (v3 API, given+surname)	2010	26	—
NL Netherlands	Meertens NVB — Nederlandse Voornamenbank (live per-name BRP counts, 1790-2017)	—	21	#18,997
AL Albania	INSTAT Albania — Search the name (given-name counts)	—	19	#7,539
HR Croatia	DZS — Imena i prezimena (per-token lookup form)	2021	17	#4,140
NO Norway	SSB — Navnesøk (name-search service, living population)	—	16	#46,356
FR France	INSEE — Fichier des noms de famille (1891–2000)	1991	16	—
IS Iceland	Þjóðskrá Íslands — Name frequencies (NafnTíðni, registry)	2026	15	#2,837
HR Croatia	DZS — Učestalost osobnih imena (Popis 2021)	2021	15	—
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL given names (first + second name position, 2026-01-20)	2026	13	#8,941
US United States	SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present)	2025	13	—
DK Denmark	Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts)	—	12	#6,046
BE Belgium	Familienaam.be — Belgian family-name frequency (population register)	2008	11	#66,727
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL living persons (names)	—	11	#9,084
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL living persons (surnames)	2026	10	—
GY Guyana	Guyana — Official List of Electors July 2025	2025	10	#584
FI Finland	DVV — Etunimitilasto (Finnish given names register)	—	9	—
KN St. Kitts & Nevis	St Kitts & Nevis — Register of Electors 2026	2026	8	#103
PL Poland	dane.gov.pl — PESEL living persons (surnames)	2026	7	—
VC St. Vincent & Grenadines	Electoral Office of St Vincent & the Grenadines — Final Voters List (Nov 2025)	2025	7	#108
DK Denmark	Danmarks Statistik — Hvor mange hedder...? (living-population name counts)	—	7	#51,816
IN India	naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls)	2015	5	—
US United States	SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present)	1979	5	—
CZ Czechia	MVČR — living population register 2017	—	4	#132,277
MD Moldova	e-services.md — living population register	—	1	#7,563
EE Estonia	Siseministeerium — population register name list 2023	2023	—	—
LT Lithuania	VLKK — Lietuvos Respublikos piliečių vardų sąvadas (recommended names)	—	—	—

Reference works 6

Dictionary of American Family Names
Nederlandse FamilienamenBank (Dutch surname bank; ex-Meertens Instituut, now CBG)2007
Wikipedia given-name tokens
Wikipedia surname tokens
Wikidata name items (native-script + romanized given/family names)
Cognomix.it (Nomix s.r.l.) — Italian surname origin dictionary

These works list the name; their figures are licensed and are not reproduced here.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Santa?: We estimate roughly 119 thousand people bear Santa (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.
In which country does Santa have the most bearers?: Santa is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled shanti.
How common is Santa compared with other names?: In India, Santa is the 42nd most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.
What does the name Santa mean?: Recorded meaning: A general of Parakkamabāhu I.

Query this name via API

curl https://api.mondonomo.ai/api/v1/name-graph/santa

The same payload this page is built from: spellings and scripts, countries and languages, related names, and the registers that attest the form. Rate-limited for casual use. Bulk access and licensing.

About this data

● measured from records◐ inferred from the name graph○ machine-generated

Data snapshot 2026-09-12. Figures are rebuilt periodically and will change.

Statistics are aggregated from the Mondonomo name corpus; related names and etymology are inferred from the name graph; pronunciation and any machine-marked transliterations are model-generated. Read how the numbers are made, including their known failure modes, and where the data comes from.

Reference works we consult — surname dictionaries, official name registers, Wikidata and Wiktionary — are named directly, beside the claims they support. The per-country source counts also include datasets of person records: we publish how many there are and their authority tier, but not their names.

Cite this page Mondonomo, “Santa” — the 42nd most common given name in India. Data snapshot 2026-09-12.

See how Santa parses inside a full name →