The story in the numbers

1,095,724 girls have been named Sarah in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1982, with 28,488 births — 1.7% of all girls recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 50 → 95).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1984, and the 1980s alone account for 25%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 137 of them in the top 100 and 26 in the top 10.

It is overwhelmingly a girl’s name: 3,339 boys have also been given it, 0.30% of the total.

Rank among girls, year by year

By decade

Decade

girls named Sarah

14,715

17,154

17,342

38,120

46,768

36,513

39,977

39,967

43,916

118,831

272,647

224,413

124,524

46,637

14,200

In 1982, its biggest year

Sarah was the 4th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1982 were Jennifer, Jessica, Amanda, Sarah and Melissa. See all of 1982.

Names that rose and fell with Sarah

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.