Saadia
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "blissful" or "fortunate".
Name Census estimates that about 601 living Americans carry the first name Saadia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saadia today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saadia births was 1964 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saadia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Saadia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
601
~ 1 in 570,307 Americans
Peak year
1964
21 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,107
Tracked since 1954
Census
Saadia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,543 people with the first name Saadia, which placed it at #9,134 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,134
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,543 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
35.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saadia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saadia is Asian/Pacific Islander at 35.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.0%) and Black (23.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Saadia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Saadia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander35.5% · 548
- White28.0% · 432
- Black or African American23.4% · 361
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 128
- Two or more races4.6% · 71
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Saadia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saadia from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saadia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Saadia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saadias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saadia
The name Saadia has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic root "sa'ada," which means "happiness" or "bliss." The name is believed to have gained popularity in the Middle East and North Africa during the Islamic Golden Age, roughly spanning the 8th to the 13th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Saadia can be found in the works of the renowned Jewish philosopher and scholar, Saadia Gaon (882-942 CE). Born in Egypt, he played a significant role in the development of Jewish thought and is considered one of the most influential figures in the Rabbinic tradition.
Another notable figure with the name Saadia was the 11th-century Iranian poet and philosopher, Saadia Shirazi (979-1050 CE). His works, particularly in the fields of philosophy and mathematics, left a lasting impact on the intellectual landscape of the time.
In the realm of literature, the name Saadia is associated with the 13th-century Egyptian-born Jewish poet and scholar, Saadia ben Maimon ibn Danan (1180-1240 CE). His poetic works were highly regarded and contributed to the rich cultural heritage of the region.
Moving forward in history, Saadia Razi (1615-1676 CE) was a renowned Persian physician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of medicine and the study of the human body.
More recently, Saadia Munavvar (1874-1949) was a prominent Indian poet and writer who played a crucial role in the literary and cultural renaissance of the Urdu language. Her works explored themes of love, spirituality, and social reform, leaving a lasting legacy in the literary world.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Saadia throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human knowledge and cultural heritage.
People
Saadia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saadia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Saadia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saadia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 601 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saadia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 570,307 US residents.
Is Saadia a common name?
We classify Saadia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 653 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saadia most popular?
The single biggest year for Saadia was 1964, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saadia is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saadia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,543 people with the name Saadia, or 0.51 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,134 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Saadia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Saadia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saadia leans strongly female. 1,507 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 43 male bearers (2.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Saadia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saadia is Asian/Pacific Islander at 35.5%. The next largest groups are White (28.0%) and Black (23.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Saadia most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Saadia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.5% (548 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Saadia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saadia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saadia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Saadia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saadia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Saadia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Saadia?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Saadia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.