How common is the name Sara?

384,257 people in the United States have the first name Sara, about 1 in 786. It ranks #120 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SARA

#120

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
384,257
About
1 in 786
This common or more
33.1%
Who bears it

Of the 384,257 people named Sara, 74.1% reported their origin as White, 17.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 3% as two or more races. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Sara peaked in 1981, when 11,391 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1981
Births that year
11,391
In 2025*
1,568 ▼86%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 437,441 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.

Sara by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1980s, when it ranked #70. The largest share of babies named Sara, 33.9%, were born between 1981 and 1996, as millennials.

1880s#2022,127
1890s#2033,119
1900s#2064,215
1910s#19915,432
1920s#21921,165
1930s#23818,366
1940s#26120,335
1950s#32220,526
1960s#30023,105
1970s#10957,160
1980s#70105,120
1990s#9572,320
2000s#17244,138
2010s#35420,744
2020s#4299,569
Before 19011.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–278.4%
Silent Generation 1928–457.8%
Baby boom 1946–649.2%
Generation X 1965–8018.3%
Millennials 1981–9633.9%
Generation Z 1997–1215.8%
2013 and later5.3%

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 Sara is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Sara has been most common in South Carolina (1.4×), Georgia (1.4×), and Wisconsin (1.3×), and least common in Louisiana (0.55×).

425,214 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 Sara

#118 Teresa · 402,455#119 Taylor · 389,216#121 Carolyn · 384,056#122 Douglas · 383,164

Spelled almost the same

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

#35 Sarah · 874,128#1,705 Sarai · 18,137#3,653 Saira · 5,588#4,867 Sari · 3,687#6,609 Saray · 2,408#6,906 Sayra · 2,267#8,303 Sahra · 1,752#11,314 Sarra · 1,141

Also a last name

As a last name, Sara ranks #23,309 of 156,621, with 1,125 people. See Sara as a last name

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