How Many People Are Named Sara?
An estimated 338,876 people in the United States have the first name Sara. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #141 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 40 years old, and Sara peaked in popularity in 1982 with 11,392 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sara 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 Sara paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sara is overwhelmingly female, 1,248 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
338,876
About 1 in 1,011 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
40
years old
Peak Year
1982
11,392 births
Total Registered
435,846
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sara
Sara is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 435,846 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Sara as a male name
Ranked #13,839 in 2024
5 male births in 2024
Peak: 1989 (50 births)
Sara as a female name
Ranked #188 in 2024
1,605 female births in 2024
Peak: 1981 (11,358 births)
Sara: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sara span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 105,119 babies were registered. Sara has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sara by Decade
How has Sara 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 | 2,127 | 0 | 2,127 | |
| 1890s | 3,119 | 0 | 3,119 | |
| 1900s | 4,215 | 5 | 4,210 | |
| 1910s | 15,432 | 23 | 15,409 | |
| 1920s | 21,165 | 64 | 21,101 | |
| 1930s | 18,366 | 105 | 18,261 | |
| 1940s | 20,335 | 60 | 20,275 | |
| 1950s | 20,526 | 35 | 20,491 | |
| 1960s | 23,106 | 61 | 23,045 | |
| 1970s | 57,162 | 202 | 56,960 | |
| 1980s | 105,119 | 438 | 104,681 | |
| 1990s | 72,320 | 150 | 72,170 | |
| 2000s | 44,132 | 82 | 44,050 | |
| 2010s | 20,735 | 12 | 20,723 | |
| 2020s | 7,987 | 11 | 7,976 | |
Sara by State
Birth registrations for Sara span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Hawaii. On average, about 8,307 Saras were registered per state.
Sara + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sara as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sara
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sara: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sara?
We estimate approximately 338,876 people named Sara 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 1,011 Americans share this first name.
Is Sara a common name?
Sara is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 435,846 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sara most popular?
Sara reached peak popularity in 1982, when 11,392 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sara is approximately 40 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sara a female name?
Sara is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sara Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sara Smith, Sara Johnson, Sara 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.
Search for a full name combination
How Many of Me