Sahiba
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman".
Name Census estimates that about 142 living Americans carry the first name Sahiba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sahiba today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sahiba births was 2023 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sahiba. 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 Sahiba with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
142
~ 1 in 2,413,763 Americans
Peak year
2023
12 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,912
Tracked since 1992
Census
Sahiba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 236 people with the first name Sahiba, which placed it at #34,545 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
#34,545
National first-name rank
People counted
236
236 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sahiba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahiba is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.8%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Sahiba 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 Sahiba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander88.6% · 209
- White6.8% · 16
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- Black or African American0.8% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Popularity
Sahiba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sahiba from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sahiba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sahiba 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 Sahiba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sahibas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sahiba
The name Sahiba originates from the Sanskrit language and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. The word 'Sahib' means master or lord, and the feminine form 'Sahiba' translates to 'mistress' or 'lady of high rank'. This name was commonly used to address women of noble birth or high social status during medieval times in the Indian subcontinent.
Sahiba finds mentions in several historical texts and religious scriptures from the region. In Sikhism, the term 'Sahiba' is often used as a respectful title for the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred scripture of the Sikh faith. Additionally, it appears in various Hindu and Islamic literary works, further solidifying its presence in the cultural fabric of the subcontinent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sahiba can be traced back to the 16th century when it was used to address the wives and daughters of Mughal emperors and other royal families. Notable historical figures who bore this name include Sahiba Begum, the daughter of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, born in 1691.
In the 18th century, Sahiba Kaur, the wife of the revered Sikh leader Guru Gobind Singh, played a significant role in the Sikh struggle for freedom and is remembered for her courage and resilience. Another prominent figure was Sahiba Sultan Begum, the wife of the Nawab of Oudh, who lived in the late 18th century and was known for her philanthropic works.
Moving into the 19th century, Sahiba Khanum was a renowned Kashmiri poet and mystic who composed beautiful verses in the Kashmiri language, leaving a lasting impact on the region's literary heritage.
In more recent times, Sahiba Gafarova, an Azerbaijani actress born in 1938, gained recognition for her contributions to the performing arts in her country.
While the name Sahiba has its origins in the Indian subcontinent, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, reflecting the rich tapestry of human diversity and the enduring influence of ancient civilizations.
People
Sahiba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sahiba 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
Sahiba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sahiba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 142 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sahiba 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 2,413,763 US residents.
Is Sahiba a common name?
We classify Sahiba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sahiba most popular?
The single biggest year for Sahiba was 2023, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sahiba is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sahiba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 236 people with the name Sahiba, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,545 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 Sahiba 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 Sahiba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sahiba appears almost entirely female. Of the 237 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 Sahiba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sahiba is Asian/Pacific Islander at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (6.8%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Sahiba most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sahiba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (209 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 Sahiba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sahiba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sahiba 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 Sahiba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sahiba 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 Sahiba 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 called Sahiba?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.