Saw

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

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◐

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

• English surname42K records spelled Saw11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Malaysia, United States, Australia

  Languages: English, German, Dutch

  Also written Şaw, Sàw, Ŝaẁ, Sâw, Śaw

• Malay surname38K records spelled Saw8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Malaysia, India, Indonesia, United States

  Languages: Malay, Indonesian

  Also written Šäw, Śåw, Şäŵ, Sâw, Sãw

• Burmese surname24K records spelled Saw61 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, United States

  Also written Šãw, Ŝâw, Sâw, Šâw, Śáw

51 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●

Saw 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 Akan, v. [inf. a-] 1. to dance. — 2. to shake, syn. wosow, posow, popo, him; - ne ho saw, he trembles; n'aniwa saw, his eye-lashes quiver (a good or ill omen)

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In Akan, red. susuw, to wax old. Ne.9,2l. to be worn out. Je.38,ll. *su-ye, inf. producing the kind or fortn of, forming. Go. 4, 19

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In Akan, V. [red. sesaw] 1, to take up or gather from the ground

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• IATA airport code for Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, which serves Istanbul, Turkey.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, A tool with a toothed blade used for cutting hard substances, in particular wood or metal.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 18 years between 2008–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• B. S. Sawb. 1930MYbadminton player
• Saw Swee Leongb. 1955MYbadminton player
• Leng Guan Sawb. 1962MYbotanist
• Yu Mon SawJPresearcher

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●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 93 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Saw?

We estimate roughly 2.3 thousand people bear Saw (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Saw have the most bearers?

We estimate about 1.4 thousand people bear Saw in India, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled saw.

Where is Saw most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Saw is densest in Finland — about 1 in 119 thousand people — even though India holds more of our records for it.

How common is Saw compared with other names?

In India, Saw is the 301st most common surname of 2,352,292 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Saw mean?

Recorded meaning: /in, -la v. Avxinie III 2, 3.