Sada
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "ever-lasting" or "eternal".
Name Census estimates that about 893 living Americans carry the first name Sada. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sada today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sada births was 1986 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sada. 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 Sada with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
893
~ 1 in 383,823 Americans
Peak year
1986
81 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,413
Tracked since 1880
Census
Sada in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,044 people with the first name Sada, which placed it at #12,061 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
#12,061
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,044 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sada
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sada is Black at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.7%). 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 Sada 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 Sada at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.5% · 433
- White35.6% · 372
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.7% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 88
- Two or more races4.6% · 48
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 12
Popularity
Sada: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sada from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 314 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sada 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 Sada during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sadas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Sada, while Texas, Florida, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sada
The name Sada has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "sadhu," which means virtuous, wise, or saintly. In Hindu culture, the name Sada is often associated with spirituality and enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sada can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, particularly the Vedas and the Upanishads. These sacred texts, which date back to around 1500 BCE, contain references to sages and ascetics with names like Sadananda and Sadashiva, which are related to the name Sada.
In the 6th century BCE, there was a famous Buddhist monk named Sada, who is said to have been one of the foremost disciples of the Buddha himself. He is mentioned in several Buddhist texts, including the Pali Canon, and is revered for his wisdom and spiritual attainments.
During the medieval period in India, the name Sada was borne by several notable figures, including Sada Shiva Rambhadracharya (1598-1668), a renowned scholar and poet from Maharashtra who wrote extensively on Vedantic philosophy and Hindu mythology.
In the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Sada was Sada Nand Arya (1882-1973), a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sada Kant Malviya (1916-2003), an Indian philosopher and educationist who served as the Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
In the realm of literature, Sada Cowan (1882-1951) was a Canadian writer and poet who is remembered for her works that explored the lives of indigenous people in Canada. Her book "Roughing It in the Bush" is considered a classic of Canadian literature.
Sada Yacco (1871-1936) was a famous Japanese actress and dancer who introduced the art of Kabuki to European audiences in the early 20th century. She is widely regarded as one of the first Japanese performers to gain international recognition and is celebrated for her contribution to the cultural exchange between East and West.
People
Sada + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sada 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
Sada: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sada?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 893 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sada 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 383,823 US residents.
Is Sada a common name?
We classify Sada as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sada most popular?
The single biggest year for Sada was 1986, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sada is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sada in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,044 people with the name Sada, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,061 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 Sada 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 Sada?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sada leans strongly female. 959 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 82 male bearers (7.9%). 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 Sada?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sada is Black at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.7%). 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 Sada most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sada in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (433 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 Sada in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sada a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sada 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 Sada still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sada 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 Sada 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 Sada?
Find out how many Americans are named Sada on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.