Sahl
An Arabic masculine name meaning "easy" or "simple".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Sahl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sahl today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sahl births was 2014 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sahl. 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 Sahl with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sahl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2014
6 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2014 SSA rank
#11,860
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Sahl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sahl from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sahl 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 Sahl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sahl
The name Sahl is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "sahl," meaning "easy" or "smooth." It has been in use since the early days of Islam, with its roots tracing back to the 7th century AD.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Sahl can be found in the biography of the famous Muslim scholar and mathematician, Sahl ibn Bishr, who lived in the 9th century AD in Baghdad. He was renowned for his contributions to the field of geometry, particularly in the development of the Sahl's Theorem, which deals with the inscribed angle theorem.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Sahl was Sahl ibn Harun, a 9th-century Persian astronomer and mathematician from Khorasan. He is best known for his work on the parallelogram law and his contributions to the field of spherical trigonometry.
In the realm of literature, Sahl ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Jawhari was a celebrated Arab lexicographer and philologist from the 10th century. He is famous for his comprehensive Arabic dictionary, "Al-Sihah fi al-Lughah," which served as a reference for the Arabic language for centuries.
During the 11th century, Sahl ibn Malik al-Isfahani gained recognition as a renowned Arabic poet and literary critic. His works, including the famous "Diwan" (collection of poems), are considered masterpieces of Arabic literature.
Another notable figure with the name Sahl was Sahl ibn Hunaid, a 9th-century Arab physician and translator from Basra. He played a crucial role in transmitting Greek medical knowledge to the Arabic world, translating numerous works by Galen and other influential Greek scholars.
While the name Sahl has its roots in the Arab world, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages over time. Its meaning and association with "ease" and "smoothness" have likely contributed to its enduring popularity across various regions and civilizations.
People
Sahl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sahl 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
Sahl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sahl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sahl 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Sahl a common name?
We classify Sahl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sahl most popular?
The single biggest year for Sahl was 2014, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sahl is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Sahl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sahl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sahl in the SSA data are male. 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 Sahl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sahl 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 Sahl 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Sahl?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.