Savage

It doesn't matter if Savage is a surname on your family tree — it's a highly controversial choice for a first name with connections to racism and colonialism. Despite this, over a dozen sets of parents named their sons Savage in a recent year.

As a last name, Savage has English origins as a medieval nickname-turned-surname for a wild person, ultimately from the Latin salvaticus, meaning "man of the woods". The Ashkenazi Jewish and Irish variations evolved from the Aramaic name Sabbas, meaning "grandfather" or "old man".

Pronounced SAV-ij.

As of October 2026, Savage ranked #8790 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #6052 in 2019.