Sadie
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess".
Name Census estimates that about 93,139 living Americans carry the first name Sadie. It sits at #57 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sadie today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sadie births was 2014 (4,870 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Elena (92,959).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sadie. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Sadie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 241 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
93K
~ 1 in 3,680 Americans
Peak year
2014
4,870 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2021 SSA rank
#57
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Sadie
Out of the 145,728 babies given the name Sadie since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Sadie as a male name
- Ranked #11,869 in 2021
- 6 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1926 (11 births)
Sadie as a female name
- Ranked #57 in 2024
- 3,729 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (4,870 births)
Popularity
Sadie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sadie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 36,599 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sadie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sadie 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 Sadie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sadies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Sadie, while Delaware, Wyoming, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,393 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sadie
The name Sadie has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Sarah, which means "princess" or "lady." The earliest recorded use of the name Sadie dates back to the late 19th century, although the name Sarah has been used for centuries.
In the Bible, Sarah was the name of the wife of the patriarch Abraham and the mother of Isaac. She is an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The name Sarah is mentioned numerous times in the Old Testament and is highly revered in these faiths.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sadie can be found in the 1871 novel "The Last Chronicle of Barset" by Anthony Trollope, where a character named Sadie is mentioned. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Sadie. One of the most famous was Sadie Hawkins, a fictional character created by cartoonist Al Capp in the comic strip "Li'l Abner" in 1937. The Sadie Hawkins dance, where women traditionally ask men to be their dates, became a popular cultural phenomenon.
Another notable Sadie was Sadie Plant (1887-1955), an American actress and vaudeville performer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and films during the early 20th century. She is often credited with popularizing the name Sadie in the United States.
In the field of literature, Sadie Thompson was the protagonist of the 1915 short story "Rain" by W. Somerset Maugham. The story was later adapted into a successful Broadway play and several films, further increasing the name's recognition.
Sadie Marcus (1885-1959) was an American lawyer and activist who played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement. She was one of the first female lawyers in Missouri and fought for women's rights and legal equality.
Sadie Sink (born 2002) is a contemporary American actress known for her roles in the television series "Stranger Things" and the horror film "Fear Street." Her portrayal of Max Mayfield in "Stranger Things" has earned her critical acclaim and a dedicated fan following.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Sadie
People
Sadie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sadie 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
Sadie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sadie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 93,139 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sadie 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 3,680 US residents.
Is Sadie a common name?
We classify Sadie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 145,728 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sadie most popular?
The single biggest year for Sadie was 2014, when 4,870 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sadie is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sadie a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Sadie 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.
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.