How rare is the name Sally?

139,332 people in the United States have the first name Sally, about 1 in 2,168. It ranks #404 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SALLY

#404

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
139,332
About
1 in 2,168
This common or more
54.5%
Who bears it

Of the 139,332 people named Sally, 84.3% reported their origin as White, 6.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 3.9% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Sally peaked in 1947, when 5,279 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1947
Births that year
5,279
In 2025*
201 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 205,876 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Sally by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #126. The largest share of babies named Sally, 40.1%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#3191,010
1890s#3161,668
1900s#2443,294
1910s#2849,338
1920s#29613,533
1930s#12934,838
1940s#12645,495
1950s#18046,805
1960s#29224,422
1970s#5129,305
1980s#7096,143
1990s#1,0744,183
2000s#1,7062,582
2010s#2,1402,095
2020s#2,2791,165
Before 19011.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2710.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4531.3%
Baby boom 1946–6440.1%
Generation X 1965–809%
Millennials 1981–964.2%
Generation Z 1997–122%
2013 and later1.3%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Sally is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Sally has been most common in Vermont (2×), Maine (1.9×), and Michigan (1.8×), and least common in Nevada (0.14×).

195,989 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Sally

#402 Ruby · 140,132#403 Lydia · 139,560#405 Regina · 139,152#406 Frederick · 138,927

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Sally, most common first.

#17,167 Salli · 647#18,988 Saly · 563#19,413 Sallye · 545#22,641 Salley · 438#26,834 Saily · 345#44,236 Salle · 157

Also a last name

As a last name, Sally ranks #21,459 of 156,621, with 1,241 people. See Sally as a last name

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