Sabreen
A feminine Arabic name meaning "patient, persevering" or "steadfast, enduring".
Name Census estimates that about 600 living Americans carry the first name Sabreen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sabreen today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sabreen births was 2016 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sabreen. 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 Sabreen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
600
~ 1 in 571,257 Americans
Peak year
2016
23 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,504
Tracked since 1977
Census
Sabreen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 767 people with the first name Sabreen, which placed it at #15,110 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
#15,110
National first-name rank
People counted
767
767 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sabreen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabreen is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%). 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 Sabreen 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 Sabreen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.2% · 400
- Black or African American20.2% · 155
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.9% · 145
- Two or more races5.9% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Sabreen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sabreen from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 167 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Sabreen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sabreen 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 Sabreen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sabreens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Illinois, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Sabreen, while New York, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sabreen
The name Sabreen is of Arabic origin and traces its roots back to the ancient Semitic languages. It is derived from the Arabic word "sabr," which means patience or perseverance. The name is believed to have first emerged in the Middle Eastern region during the 7th century AD, coinciding with the rise of Islam and the spread of the Arabic language.
In Islamic tradition, the concept of patience and steadfastness is highly valued, and the name Sabreen reflects this virtue. It is often associated with qualities such as resilience, endurance, and the ability to remain calm and composed in the face of adversity. The name has been popular among Muslim communities for centuries and has been carried by several notable historical figures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sabreen dates back to the 8th century AD when a renowned female scholar and poet, Sabreen bint Ismail al-Hajari (born around 730 AD), gained recognition for her literary works and mastery of the Arabic language. She was celebrated for her wisdom and eloquence, and her writings have been preserved as part of the rich cultural heritage of the Islamic world.
Another prominent figure with the name Sabreen was Sabreen al-Ansari (1210-1286 AD), a mystic and Sufi poet from present-day Iraq. Her spiritual poems and teachings on the path of divine love and devotion have inspired generations of seekers and are still widely studied and recited today.
In the 14th century, Sabreen al-Bukhari (1320-1390 AD), a scholar and jurist from Central Asia, made significant contributions to the field of Islamic jurisprudence. Her works on legal interpretations and religious rulings were highly influential during her time and are still referenced by scholars today.
In the realm of literature, the 16th-century poet and writer Sabreen al-Andalusi (1528-1601 AD) from Spain gained recognition for her poetic compositions and literary prowess. Her works, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human experience, have been celebrated for their beauty and depth.
More recently, Sabreen Karim (born 1970) is a contemporary Canadian author and activist of Pakistani descent. She has written extensively on issues of gender, social justice, and the experiences of Muslim women, using her platform to amplify marginalized voices and promote understanding across cultures.
People
Sabreen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sabreen 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
Sabreen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sabreen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 600 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sabreen 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 571,257 US residents.
Is Sabreen a common name?
We classify Sabreen 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, 616 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sabreen most popular?
The single biggest year for Sabreen was 2016, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sabreen is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sabreen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 767 people with the name Sabreen, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,110 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 Sabreen 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 Sabreen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sabreen leans strongly female. 770 people counted with this name were female (99.0%), compared with 8 male bearers (1.0%). 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 Sabreen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sabreen is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.9%). 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 Sabreen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sabreen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (400 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 Sabreen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sabreen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sabreen 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 Sabreen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sabreen 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 Sabreen 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 named Sabreen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.