Sallie
A feminine name of English origin meaning "princess".
Name Census estimates that about 10,701 living Americans carry the first name Sallie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sallie today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sallie births was 1916 (917 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sallie. 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 Sallie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 135 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Sallie is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sallies were born before 1969.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 32,030 Americans
Peak year
1916
917 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1952 SSA rank
#4,184
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Sallie
Out of the 50,063 babies given the name Sallie since 1880, 99.7% 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.
Sallie as a male name
- Ranked #4,184 in 1952
- 5 male births in 1952
- Peak: 1930 (9 births)
Sallie as a female name
- Ranked #6,099 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (912 births)
Popularity
Sallie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sallie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 7,423 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sallie 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 Sallie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sallies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Sallie, while Nebraska, Minnesota, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 840 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sallie
The name Sallie is an English feminine given name derived from the Hebrew name Sarah, meaning "princess" or "noblewoman". It originated as a diminutive form of Sarah, which was popularized during the Middle Ages.
Sallie can be traced back to the biblical figure Sarah, the wife of Abraham in the Old Testament. Sarah was an important figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and her name became widely used among these religious communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sallie dates back to the 16th century in England. In 1597, a woman named Sallie Whitmore was baptized in the parish of St. Mary's in Coventry, England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sallie. One of the most famous was Sallie Holley (1818-1893), an American educator and suffragist who fought for women's rights and educational reform in the United States.
Another prominent figure was Sallie Walker Wyman (1834-1900), an American Civil War nurse and humanitarian who provided medical care to soldiers on both sides of the conflict. She was known for her bravery and compassion.
In the realm of literature, Sallie Sayward (1834-1912) was an American writer and poet who published several works, including "The Sayward Memorial," which documented her family's history.
The name also gained recognition through Sallie Buchanan (1888-1953), a pioneering American aviator and one of the first women to earn a pilot's license in the United States.
Lastly, Sallie W. Stockard (1869-1963) was an American educator and activist who advocated for women's suffrage and served as the president of the Tennessee Equal Rights Association.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals named Sallie throughout history, showcasing the enduring popularity and significance of this name across various fields and time periods.
People
Sallie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sallie 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
Sallie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sallie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,701 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sallie 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 32,030 US residents.
Is Sallie a common name?
We classify Sallie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 50,063 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sallie most popular?
The single biggest year for Sallie was 1916, when 917 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sallie is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sallie a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Sallie 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.