How Many People Are Named Sally?
An estimated 103,490 people in the United States have the first name Sally. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 65 years old, and Sally peaked in popularity in 1947 with 5,279 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sally as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Sally paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sally is overwhelmingly female, 647 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
- Sally has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
103,490
About 1 in 3,312 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
65
years old
Peak Year
1947
5,279 births
Total Registered
205,673
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sally
Sally is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 205,673 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Sally as a male name
Ranked #9,559 in 1992
5 male births in 1992
Peak: 1937 (26 births)
Sally as a female name
Ranked #1,098 in 2024
223 female births in 2024
Peak: 1947 (5,265 births)
Sally: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sally span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 46,805 babies were registered. Sally has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sally by Decade
How has Sally tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,010 | 0 | 1,010 | |
| 1890s | 1,668 | 0 | 1,668 | |
| 1900s | 3,294 | 0 | 3,294 | |
| 1910s | 9,338 | 37 | 9,301 | |
| 1920s | 13,533 | 61 | 13,472 | |
| 1930s | 34,838 | 158 | 34,680 | |
| 1940s | 45,495 | 151 | 45,344 | |
| 1950s | 46,805 | 99 | 46,706 | |
| 1960s | 24,422 | 78 | 24,344 | |
| 1970s | 9,305 | 30 | 9,275 | |
| 1980s | 6,143 | 16 | 6,127 | |
| 1990s | 4,183 | 17 | 4,166 | |
| 2000s | 2,582 | 0 | 2,582 | |
| 2010s | 2,095 | 0 | 2,095 | |
| 2020s | 962 | 0 | 962 | |
Sally by State
Birth registrations for Sally span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Nevada, Alaska, Delaware. On average, about 3,840 Sallys were registered per state.
Sally + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sally as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sally
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sally: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sally?
We estimate approximately 103,490 people named Sally are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 3,312 Americans share this first name.
Is Sally a common name?
Sally is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 205,673 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sally most popular?
Sally reached peak popularity in 1947, when 5,279 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sally is approximately 65 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sally a female name?
Sally is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sally Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sally Smith, Sally Johnson, Sally Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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