Sakinah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "tranquility, peace, calmness".
Name Census estimates that about 988 living Americans carry the first name Sakinah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sakinah today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sakinah births was 1976 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sakinah. 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 Sakinah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
988
~ 1 in 346,917 Americans
Peak year
1976
52 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,908
Tracked since 1971
Census
Sakinah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 857 people with the first name Sakinah, which placed it at #13,919 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
#13,919
National first-name rank
People counted
857
857 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sakinah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sakinah is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.6%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Sakinah 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 Sakinah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.1% · 661
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.6% · 65
- Two or more races6.8% · 58
- White4.6% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Popularity
Sakinah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sakinah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 275 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sakinah 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 Sakinah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sakinahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Sakinah, while Minnesota, Michigan, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sakinah
The name Sakinah originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in Islam. It is derived from the word "sakina," which means tranquility, peace, and serenity. The name is believed to have been in use since the early days of Islam, around the 7th century AD.
The name Sakinah is mentioned in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, and is associated with the concept of divine peace and calmness descending upon the believers. It is also said that the name Sakinah was given to the daughter of Prophet Muhammad, who was known for her gentle and peaceful demeanor.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sakinah can be found in historical accounts from the 8th century. Sakinah bint al-Husayn, born in 728 AD, was a renowned scholar and poet from the Abbasid Caliphate, known for her expertise in Arabic literature and Quranic studies.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Sakinah. Sakinah Mosque, built in the 14th century in Uzbekistan, is a significant architectural landmark and a testament to the historical presence of the name in Central Asia.
Another notable figure was Sakinah Zainab Salim, born in 1890 in Zanzibar, who was a pioneer in women's education and activism in East Africa. She established one of the first schools for girls in the region and fought for women's rights.
In the 20th century, Sakinah Futayyah, born in 1920 in Egypt, was a prominent writer and journalist. She was a vocal advocate for women's empowerment and played a crucial role in shaping the literary landscape of the Arab world.
Sakinah Jaffer, born in 1933 in South Africa, was a prominent anti-apartheid activist and a leader in the women's rights movement. She fought tirelessly for equality and justice, and her contributions to the struggle against apartheid are widely recognized.
Sakinah Bouterse, born in 1962 in Suriname, is a renowned artist and sculptor. Her works have been exhibited globally and have garnered critical acclaim for their exploration of identity, culture, and social issues.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have carried the name Sakinah throughout history, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their communities and societies.
People
Sakinah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sakinah 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
Sakinah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sakinah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 988 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sakinah 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 346,917 US residents.
Is Sakinah a common name?
We classify Sakinah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,039 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sakinah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sakinah was 1976, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sakinah is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sakinah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 857 people with the name Sakinah, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,919 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 Sakinah 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 Sakinah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sakinah appears almost entirely female. Of the 842 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 Sakinah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sakinah is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.6%) and Two or More Races (6.8%). 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 Sakinah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sakinah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (661 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 Sakinah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sakinah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sakinah 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 Sakinah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sakinah 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 Sakinah 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 Sakinah?
Find out how many people share the name Sakinah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.