Sai
A masculine name of Indian origin representing a spiritual leader or saint.
Name Census estimates that about 2,037 living Americans carry the first name Sai. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Sai today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sai births was 2019 (96 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sai. 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
- • Sai is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 168,264 Americans
Peak year
2019
96 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,162
Tracked since 1972
Gender
Gender distribution for Sai
Sai is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,066 total registrations, 1,611 (78.0%) were male and 455 (22.0%) were female.
Sai as a male name
- Ranked #2,162 in 2024
- 68 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (81 births)
Sai as a female name
- Ranked #6,571 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (24 births)
Popularity
Sai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sai from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 680 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sai 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 Sai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Sai, while Tennessee, Minnesota, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sai
The name Sai has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian subcontinent. The name's earliest recorded use dates back to ancient Hindu scriptures and texts from around 1500 BCE.
In Sanskrit, the word "sai" means "the divine" or "the supreme being." It is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit root word "sat," which means "being" or "existence." The name Sai is often associated with various Hindu deities and spiritual leaders.
One of the earliest and most significant historical references to the name Sai can be found in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture that is a part of the epic Mahabharata. In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna is referred to as "Sai" or "Saiyam," which means "the highest truth" or "the ultimate reality."
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who have borne the name Sai. One of the most well-known is Sai Baba of Shirdi (1838-1918), a renowned Indian spiritual master and saint who is revered by both Hindus and Muslims.
Another prominent figure with the name Sai is Sai Shyam Sundar Das (1799-1878), a Hindu saint and poet from Bengal, India, who is known for his devotional poetry and his contribution to the Baul tradition.
In the 20th century, Sai Baba of Puttaparthi (1926-2011), also known as Sathya Sai Baba, was a highly influential spiritual leader and philanthropist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He gained a massive following worldwide and established numerous charitable organizations.
The name Sai has also been used by other notable individuals, such as Sai Paranjpye (born 1938), an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, and Sai Pallavi (born 1992), a popular Indian actress who has appeared in several Telugu and Malayalam films.
Sai Reddy (1931-2011) was an Indian classical singer and musician, known for his contributions to the Hindustani classical music tradition. He was awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan, India's third-highest civilian honor, for his exceptional work in the field of music.
People
Sai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sai 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
Sai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,037 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sai 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 168,264 US residents.
Is Sai a common name?
We classify Sai as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,066 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sai most popular?
The single biggest year for Sai was 2019, when 96 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sai is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sai a male name?
Yes, 78.0% of people registered as Sai 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.
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.