Saara
Hebrew feminine name derived from "Sarah," meaning princess or noblewoman.
Name Census estimates that about 372 living Americans carry the first name Saara. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saara today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saara births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saara. 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 Saara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
372
~ 1 in 921,383 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,901
Tracked since 1973
Census
Saara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 505 people with the first name Saara, which placed it at #20,449 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
#20,449
National first-name rank
People counted
505
505 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
41.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saara is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.0%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Saara 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 Saara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.0% · 207
- White34.3% · 173
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 46
- Two or more races7.9% · 40
- Black or African American7.5% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Saara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saara from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 147 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Saara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saara 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 Saara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saaras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saara
The name Saara has its origins in the Hebrew language, derived from the biblical name "Sarah," which means "princess" or "noblewoman." It is a variant spelling of the more common "Sarah," with the double "a" added, likely to distinguish it from the traditional form.
The name Sarah is first mentioned in the Book of Genesis, where it is the name of the wife of the biblical patriarch Abraham. Sarah was revered as one of the matriarchs of the Jewish people and is regarded as a symbol of faith, patience, and obedience to God.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Saara was Saara Forsius, a Finnish writer and translator who lived from 1641 to 1701. She is considered one of the first female authors in Finland and is known for her translations of religious texts.
In the 19th century, Saara Aalto was a Finnish writer and activist who lived from 1853 to 1904. She was a prominent figure in the Finnish women's rights movement and worked tirelessly to promote education and equality for women.
Another notable figure with the name Saara was Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, a Namibian politician who served as the first Prime Minister of Namibia from 2015 to 2020. She played a significant role in the country's transition to independence and has been a prominent figure in Namibian politics for decades.
Saara Chaudry is a contemporary Canadian actress and writer, known for her work in films and television series such as "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Expanse." She has received critical acclaim for her performances and is considered a rising star in the entertainment industry.
In Islamic cultures, the name Saara is sometimes used as a variant of the Arabic name "Sara," which is derived from the same biblical origins. However, it is less common than the traditional spelling of "Sarah."
While the name Saara has its roots in ancient Hebrew texts and religious scriptures, it has gained popularity across various cultures and regions over time, with individuals bearing this name making significant contributions in fields such as literature, politics, and the arts.
People
Saara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saara 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
Saara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 372 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saara 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 921,383 US residents.
Is Saara a common name?
We classify Saara as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 379 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saara most popular?
The single biggest year for Saara was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saara is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 505 people with the name Saara, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,449 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 Saara 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 Saara?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saara appears almost entirely female. Of the 500 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Saara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saara is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.0%. The next largest groups are White (34.3%) and Hispanic (9.1%). 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 Saara most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Saara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.0% (207 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 Saara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saara a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saara 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 Saara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saara 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 Saara 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 are called Saara?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.