Saoirse
An Irish feminine name meaning "freedom" or "liberty".
Name Census estimates that about 3,813 living Americans carry the first name Saoirse. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saoirse today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saoirse births was 2020 (373 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saoirse. 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 Saoirse with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Saoirse is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 89,891 Americans
Peak year
2020
373 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,036
Tracked since 1993
Census
Saoirse in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,297 people with the first name Saoirse, which placed it at #6,842 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
#6,842
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,297 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saoirse
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saoirse is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.1%) and Hispanic (10.0%). 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 Saoirse 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 Saoirse at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 1,769
- Two or more races10.1% · 231
- Hispanic or Latino10.0% · 230
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 35
- Black or African American1.1% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Saoirse: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saoirse 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 1,853 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
Saoirse 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 Saoirse during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saoirses live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Saoirse, while South Carolina, Nevada, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saoirse
The name Saoirse is derived from the Irish Gaelic language and is a feminine given name that means "freedom" or "liberty." It originated in Ireland and has been in use for centuries.
The name Saoirse is rooted in the Old Irish word "saor," meaning "free" or "noble." It is believed to have first appeared in ancient Irish manuscripts and texts dating back to the 8th or 9th century.
While it is difficult to pinpoint the earliest recorded instance of the name Saoirse, it has been used throughout Irish history as a symbol of the nation's struggle for independence and freedom from English rule.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Saoirse was Saoirse Inghean Ghríobhtha, an Irish noblewoman who lived in the 16th century. She was a member of the powerful O'Neill dynasty and played a role in the Irish resistance against English colonization.
Another notable figure named Saoirse was Saoirse Ní Chéileachair, an Irish rebel and revolutionary who participated in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. She was born in County Wicklow in 1771 and fought alongside her husband against British forces.
In the 20th century, the name Saoirse gained renewed popularity as a symbol of Irish nationalism and the country's independence from Britain. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Saoirse Ronan, an Irish-American actress born in 1994. She has been acclaimed for her performances in films such as "Atonement" and "Lady Bird."
The name Saoirse has also been borne by other notable figures, including Saoirse Bennett, an Irish writer and journalist born in 1939, and Saoirse Duine, an Irish politician and activist born in 1962 who campaigned for women's rights and environmental causes.
While the name Saoirse has its roots in ancient Irish history, it continues to be a popular choice for parents in Ireland and among the Irish diaspora, representing a connection to their cultural heritage and the enduring spirit of freedom and independence.
People
Saoirse + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saoirse 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
Saoirse: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saoirse?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,813 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saoirse 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 89,891 US residents.
Is Saoirse a common name?
We classify Saoirse as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,842 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saoirse most popular?
The single biggest year for Saoirse was 2020, when 373 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saoirse is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saoirse in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,297 people with the name Saoirse, or 0.76 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,842 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 Saoirse 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 Saoirse?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saoirse appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,297 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Saoirse?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saoirse is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.1%) and Hispanic (10.0%). 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 Saoirse most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Saoirse in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (1,769 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 Saoirse in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saoirse a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saoirse 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 Saoirse still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saoirse 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 Saoirse 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 have the name Saoirse?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.