Saralee
A feminine name combining "Sarah" meaning princess and "Lee" meaning meadow.
Name Census estimates that about 389 living Americans carry the first name Saralee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Saralee today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Saralee births was 1941 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Saralee. 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
389
~ 1 in 881,117 Americans
Peak year
1941
28 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2018 SSA rank
#15,349
Tracked since 1917
Census
Saralee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 654 people with the first name Saralee, which placed it at #17,030 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
#17,030
National first-name rank
People counted
654
654 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Saralee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saralee is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.0%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Saralee 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 Saralee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.0% · 484
- Hispanic or Latino15.0% · 98
- Black or African American6.4% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 12
- Two or more races1.8% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 6
Popularity
Saralee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Saralee from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 189 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Saralee 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 Saralee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Saralees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Saralee, while New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Saralee
The given name Saralee is a relatively modern name that combines the biblical name Sarah with the suffix "-lee". Its origins can be traced back to the Hebrew language, where Sarah means "princess" or "noblewoman". The name Sarah has deep roots in the Abrahamic religions, particularly in Judaism and Christianity, as it was the name of the wife of Abraham in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
In the biblical account, Sarah was initially called Sarai, which means "my princess" or "princess of the multitude". Her name was changed to Sarah by God, symbolizing her role as the mother of nations. The name Sarah has been a popular choice among Jewish and Christian families for centuries, with numerous variations and spellings across different cultures and languages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Saralee is relatively recent, likely emerging in the late 19th or early 20th century as a combination of Sarah and the suffix "-lee". This suffix has been used in various English names, often derived from French or Old English origins, such as Hailee, Marlee, or Kaylee.
While the name Saralee itself does not have a long historical record, it is a modern variation that pays homage to the biblical figure Sarah. Some notable individuals with the given name Saralee include:
1. Saralee Rosenberg (born 1942), an American author and illustrator known for her children's books.
2. Saralee Kunde (born 1948), an American author and educator, known for her work on teaching methods and curriculum development.
3. Saralee Pryor (1925-2017), an American dancer and choreographer who worked extensively in television and theater.
4. Saralee Orsborn (born 1943), an American actress and singer who appeared in various television shows and films in the 1960s and 1970s.
5. Saralee Crofts (born 1944), an American singer and songwriter, best known as one half of the folk-rock duo Seals & Crofts.
While the name Saralee is not as common as its biblical counterpart Sarah, it has gained popularity in recent decades as a unique and melodic variation. Its combination of ancient roots and modern flair has contributed to its appeal among parents seeking a name with historical significance and a distinctive sound.
People
Saralee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Saralee 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
Saralee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Saralee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 389 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Saralee 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 881,117 US residents.
Is Saralee a common name?
We classify Saralee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 749 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Saralee most popular?
The single biggest year for Saralee was 1941, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Saralee is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Saralee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 654 people with the name Saralee, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,030 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 Saralee 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 Saralee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Saralee appears almost entirely female. Of the 661 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 Saralee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Saralee is White at 74.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.0%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Saralee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Saralee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.0% (484 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 Saralee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Saralee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Saralee 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 Saralee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Saralee 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 Saralee 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 Saralee?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Saralee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.