Saben
A variant of the Hebrew name Shauvan or Shavvan, meaning "level."
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Saben. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Saben today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saben births was 2000 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saben. 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.
People living today
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2000
12 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2014 SSA rank
#13,686
Tracked since 1997
Census
Saben in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 179 people with the first name Saben, which placed it at #41,133 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
#41,133
National first-name rank
People counted
179
179 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saben
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saben is White at 63.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.6%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Saben 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 Saben at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.1% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino15.6% · 28
- Two or more races11.7% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 8
- Black or African American3.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 3
Popularity
Saben: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saben from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 66 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Saben remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saben 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 Saben during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saben
The name Saben is believed to have originated from the Persian language, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is thought to be derived from the Persian word "sabun," which means "soap" or "cleansing agent." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with purity or cleanliness in its early use.
One of the earliest known references to the name Saben can be found in the ancient Persian epic poem, the Shahnameh, written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi around 1010 CE. In this literary masterpiece, the name appears as a character, though little is known about its specific context or significance.
The first recorded individual with the name Saben was a Persian scholar and philosopher named Saben al-Khorasani, who lived in the 9th century CE. He was renowned for his contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another notable figure was Saben ibn Ismail, a 10th-century Islamic theologian and jurist from Baghdad. He was known for his influential works on Islamic jurisprudence and his role in shaping the development of Islamic legal theory.
In the 12th century, Saben al-Mawsili was a renowned Persian musician and composer who played a significant role in the development of classical Arabic music. He was particularly celebrated for his contributions to the muwashshah poetic form and his innovative musical compositions.
During the 13th century, Saben ibn Yahya al-Razi was a prominent Persian physician and philosopher. He made notable contributions to the field of medicine, including his writings on the treatment of various ailments and his advocacy for the use of experimental methods in medical practice.
In more recent times, Saben Belay was an Ethiopian military officer and politician who played a crucial role in the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974. He served as the Minister of Defense in the Derg military government and was instrumental in shaping the country's political landscape during that period.
While the name Saben has its roots in ancient Persian culture, it has been adopted and adapted across various regions and cultures throughout history, reflecting the diverse and rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
Saben + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saben 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
Saben: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saben?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saben 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Saben a common name?
We classify Saben as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saben most popular?
The single biggest year for Saben was 2000, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saben is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saben in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 179 people with the name Saben, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,133 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 Saben 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 Saben?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saben leans strongly male. 157 people counted with this name were male (88.7%), compared with 20 female bearers (11.3%). 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 Saben?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saben is White at 63.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.6%) and Two or More Races (11.7%). 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 Saben most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Saben in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.1% (113 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 Saben in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saben a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saben in the SSA data are male. 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 Saben still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saben 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 Saben 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 Saben?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Saben, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.