Saphire
From the Hebrew name "Sapir" meaning "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 894 living Americans carry the first name Saphire. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saphire today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saphire births was 2007 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saphire. 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 Saphire with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
894
~ 1 in 383,394 Americans
Peak year
2007
51 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,110
Tracked since 1987
Census
Saphire in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 714 people with the first name Saphire, which placed it at #15,948 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
#15,948
National first-name rank
People counted
714
714 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saphire
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saphire is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.4%) and Black (17.8%). 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 Saphire 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 Saphire at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.8% · 277
- Hispanic or Latino28.4% · 203
- Black or African American17.8% · 127
- Two or more races9.0% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 13
Popularity
Saphire: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saphire from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 335 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saphire 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 Saphire during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saphires live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Saphire, while Washington, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saphire
The name Saphire is derived from the English word "sapphire," which is a precious gemstone that ranges in color from deep blue to violet. The name has its roots in the Greek word "sappheiros," meaning "blue stone." This, in turn, is believed to have originated from the Hebrew word "sappir," meaning "most beautiful thing."
The sapphire gemstone has been revered since ancient times and has been associated with royalty, wisdom, and virtue. It is mentioned in the Bible, where it is described as one of the gems adorning the breastplate of the High Priest and the foundations of the New Jerusalem.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Saphire dates back to the late 16th century. In 1598, a woman named Saphire Neale was born in England. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Neale, an English politician and courtier during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Saphire Bartlet was an English writer and poet. She was born in 1628 and is known for her collection of poems titled "The Virtuous Lady's Miscellany," published in 1675.
During the 18th century, Saphire Monteith was a Scottish noblewoman born in 1720. She was the daughter of James Monteith, the 11th Earl of Montrose, and was known for her philanthropic work and support of the arts.
In the 19th century, Saphire Smyth was an American abolitionist and women's rights activist. She was born in 1825 in Massachusetts and was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement, working alongside renowned activists like William Lloyd Garrison and Harriet Tubman.
More recently, Saphire Ngwenya was a South African musician and singer-songwriter born in 1960. She was known for her fusion of traditional African music with contemporary genres and her advocacy for social and political causes.
While the name Saphire has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its association with the beautiful and valuable sapphire gemstone has given it a sense of rarity, elegance, and prestige.
People
Saphire + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saphire 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
Saphire: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saphire?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 894 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saphire 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 383,394 US residents.
Is Saphire a common name?
We classify Saphire as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 910 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saphire most popular?
The single biggest year for Saphire was 2007, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saphire is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saphire in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 714 people with the name Saphire, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,948 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 Saphire 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 Saphire?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saphire leans strongly female. 705 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 12 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Saphire?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saphire is White at 38.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.4%) and Black (17.8%). 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 Saphire most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Saphire in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.8% (277 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 Saphire in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saphire a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saphire 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 Saphire still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saphire 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 Saphire 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 common is the name Saphire?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.