Sabiha
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "beautiful" or "lovely".
Name Census estimates that about 303 living Americans carry the first name Sabiha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sabiha today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sabiha births was 2017 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sabiha. 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 Sabiha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
303
~ 1 in 1,131,202 Americans
Peak year
2017
21 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,309
Tracked since 1982
Census
Sabiha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,352 people with the first name Sabiha, which placed it at #10,013 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
#10,013
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,352 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sabiha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabiha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.0%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Sabiha 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 Sabiha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander72.0% · 974
- White23.3% · 315
- Two or more races2.5% · 34
- Black or African American1.6% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Popularity
Sabiha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sabiha from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 130 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sabiha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sabiha 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 Sabiha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sabihas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sabiha
The name Sabiha is of Arabic origin and is derived from the Arabic word "sabah," which means "morning" or "dawn." It is a feminine name that is commonly found in the Middle East and other regions with significant Arab or Muslim populations.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sabiha can be found in the writings of medieval Arab scholars and poets. The name was often used as a symbolic representation of beauty, grace, and the promise of a new day.
In Islamic history, Sabiha was the name of a companion of the Prophet Muhammad. She was known for her piety and devotion to the faith, and her name became associated with virtues such as patience and perseverance.
The name Sabiha has also been borne by several notable historical figures throughout the centuries. One such figure was Sabiha Gökçen (1913-2001), a Turkish aviator and the first female fighter pilot in the world. She played a crucial role in the Turkish War of Independence and was a pioneer in the field of aviation.
Another famous bearer of the name was Sabiha Khanum (1857-1950), an Uzbek princess and philanthropist who was instrumental in promoting education and social welfare in Central Asia during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Sabiha Sertel (1895-1968) was a Turkish writer, journalist, and political activist who fought for women's rights and democratic values in Turkey. Her works and activism had a significant impact on the country's intellectual and political landscape.
In the realm of literature, Sabiha Naqvi (1937-2017) was a renowned Pakistani writer and poet who explored themes of identity, feminism, and the human condition in her works. Her contributions to Urdu literature earned her numerous accolades and recognition.
Sabiha Sumar (born 1962) is a Pakistani filmmaker and human rights activist known for her critically acclaimed films that tackle social and political issues in the region. Her work has garnered international recognition and has been screened at various prestigious film festivals.
People
Sabiha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sabiha 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
Sabiha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sabiha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 303 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sabiha 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 1,131,202 US residents.
Is Sabiha a common name?
We classify Sabiha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 307 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sabiha most popular?
The single biggest year for Sabiha was 2017, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sabiha is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sabiha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,352 people with the name Sabiha, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,013 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 Sabiha 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 Sabiha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sabiha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,354 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 Sabiha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabiha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 72.0%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Sabiha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sabiha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (974 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 Sabiha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sabiha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sabiha 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 Sabiha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sabiha 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 Sabiha 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 Sabiha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.