How Many People Are Named Sarah?
An estimated 856,869 people in the United States have the first name Sarah, ranking it #32 among all first names. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 38 years old, and Sarah peaked in popularity in 1982 with 28,613 births that year. It has a similar number of bearers to Jeffrey (854,629).
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Sarah 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 Sarah paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Sarah is overwhelmingly female, 3,339 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
856,869
About 1 in 400 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
38
years old
Peak Year
1982
28,613 births
Total Registered
1,099,063
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Sarah
Sarah is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 1,099,063 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Sarah as a male name
Ranked #9,405 in 2020
8 male births in 2020
Peak: 1989 (146 births)
Sarah as a female name
Ranked #95 in 2024
2,697 female births in 2024
Peak: 1982 (28,488 births)
Sarah: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Sarah span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 273,767 babies were registered. Sarah has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Sarah by Decade
How has Sarah 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 | 14,746 | 31 | 14,715 | |
| 1890s | 17,219 | 65 | 17,154 | |
| 1900s | 17,385 | 43 | 17,342 | |
| 1910s | 38,244 | 124 | 38,120 | |
| 1920s | 46,993 | 225 | 46,768 | |
| 1930s | 36,749 | 236 | 36,513 | |
| 1940s | 40,127 | 150 | 39,977 | |
| 1950s | 40,087 | 120 | 39,967 | |
| 1960s | 44,065 | 149 | 43,916 | |
| 1970s | 119,269 | 438 | 118,831 | |
| 1980s | 273,767 | 1,120 | 272,647 | |
| 1990s | 224,771 | 358 | 224,413 | |
| 2000s | 124,750 | 226 | 124,524 | |
| 2010s | 46,683 | 46 | 46,637 | |
| 2020s | 14,208 | 8 | 14,200 | |
Sarah by State
Birth registrations for Sarah span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Wyoming, Alaska, Vermont. On average, about 20,523 Sarahs were registered per state.
Sarah + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Sarah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Sarah
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
Sarah: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sarah?
We estimate approximately 856,869 people named Sarah 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 400 Americans share this first name.
Is Sarah a common name?
Sarah is classified as "Very Common" and is more popular than 100% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,099,063 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Sarah most popular?
Sarah reached peak popularity in 1982, when 28,613 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Sarah is approximately 38 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Sarah a female name?
Sarah is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Sarah Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Sarah Smith, Sarah Johnson, Sarah 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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