Saprina
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "sappheiros," meaning blue sapphire.
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Saprina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saprina today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saprina births was 1971 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saprina. 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.
People living today
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
1971
31 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,387
Tracked since 1967
Census
Saprina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 301 people with the first name Saprina, which placed it at #29,423 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
#29,423
National first-name rank
People counted
301
301 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saprina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saprina is Black at 54.8%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Saprina 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 Saprina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.8% · 165
- White30.9% · 93
- Two or more races6.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino4.3% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Saprina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saprina from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 220 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
Saprina 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 Saprina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saprinas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Saprina
The name Saprina is a unique and intriguing moniker with a rich history that spans across various cultures and time periods. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit, the classical language of the Indian subcontinent. In this linguistic context, the name is believed to derive from the Sanskrit word "sapri," which translates to "beautiful" or "lovely."
During the medieval era, the name gained prominence in parts of the Middle East, particularly in Persia (modern-day Iran). Here, it was often associated with the concept of wisdom and scholarly pursuits. Some historical accounts suggest that Saprina was a name bestowed upon learned women who excelled in fields such as poetry, philosophy, and the arts.
In the 12th century, records indicate the existence of a celebrated Persian poet known as Saprina of Shiraz. Her literary works, though now largely lost to time, were highly acclaimed during her lifetime and are believed to have influenced the poetic traditions of the region.
As trade and cultural exchange flourished along the Silk Road, the name Saprina made its way westward, finding its way into the lexicon of various European languages. In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing this name was Saprina Benedetti, an Italian Renaissance scholar and humanist. Born in 1474 in Mantua, she was renowned for her expertise in classical literature and her contributions to the intellectual discourse of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Saprina made an appearance in the works of the renowned English playwright William Shakespeare. In his play "The Taming of the Shrew," one of the characters is named Saprina, though her role is relatively minor.
Moving into the 19th century, a notable figure with this name was Saprina Millet, a French artist and painter born in 1820. Her vibrant and expressive landscapes captured the natural beauty of the French countryside and were highly regarded during her lifetime.
Finally, in the 20th century, Saprina Hoffman gained recognition as a pioneering American astronomer. Born in 1935 in New York, she made significant contributions to the study of stellar evolution and played a pivotal role in advancing our understanding of the lifecycle of stars.
While the name Saprina may not be as common in modern times, its rich history and diverse cultural associations make it a truly captivating choice, evoking a sense of beauty, wisdom, and intellectual pursuit.
People
Saprina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saprina 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
Saprina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saprina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saprina 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Saprina a common name?
We classify Saprina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 365 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saprina most popular?
The single biggest year for Saprina was 1971, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saprina is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saprina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 301 people with the name Saprina, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,423 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 Saprina 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 Saprina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saprina appears almost entirely female. Of the 304 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 Saprina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saprina is Black at 54.8%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Two or More Races (6.6%). 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 Saprina most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Saprina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (165 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 Saprina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saprina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saprina 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 Saprina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saprina 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 Saprina 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 Americans are named Saprina?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.