Sarayah
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess of the Lord".
Name Census estimates that about 620 living Americans carry the first name Sarayah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sarayah today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sarayah births was 2016 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sarayah. 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 Sarayah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
620
~ 1 in 552,830 Americans
Peak year
2016
44 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,798
Tracked since 1996
Census
Sarayah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 380 people with the first name Sarayah, which placed it at #25,078 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
#25,078
National first-name rank
People counted
380
380 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sarayah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarayah is Black at 54.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Sarayah 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 Sarayah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.2% · 206
- White16.3% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino15.8% · 60
- Two or more races10.8% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Popularity
Sarayah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sarayah 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 305 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sarayah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sarayah 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 Sarayah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sarayahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Sarayah, while Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sarayah
The name Sarayah has its roots in Hebrew culture and language, originating as a variation of the name Sarah. The name Sarah is derived from the Hebrew word "sarah," which means "princess" or "noblewoman." Sarayah is an alternative spelling that incorporates the Hebrew letter "yod" into the name.
In the Hebrew Bible, Sarah is a prominent figure, being the wife of the patriarch Abraham. Her story is told in the Book of Genesis, where she is described as a beautiful and faithful woman who gave birth to Isaac at an advanced age. The name Sarayah, therefore, carries the biblical connotation of a woman of great faith and perseverance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sarayah can be found in the Book of Chronicles, a historical record of the Israelites. In 1 Chronicles 8:8, a man named Shaharaim is mentioned as having sons named "Hushim and Baara his wives, and Hodesh his concubine." The name Baara is believed to be a variation of Sarayah, indicating the name's usage in ancient Israelite society.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sarayah. In the 17th century, Sarayah Rapoport (1590-1670) was a prominent Jewish scholar and author from Poland. She authored a work titled "The Memoirs of Gluckel of Hameln," which provided valuable insights into the lives of Jewish women during that period.
Another notable Sarayah was Sarayah Hirschfeld (1815-1889), a German-Jewish scholar and author who wrote extensively on Jewish history and literature. Her works, such as "The Principles of the Mosaic Cult" and "The Jewish Question," contributed significantly to the study of Judaism and its cultural impact.
In the 20th century, Sarayah Iselin (1892-1974) was an American philanthropist and art collector. She played a crucial role in preserving and promoting the arts, donating her extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works to various museums and institutions.
Sarayah Deeb (1926-2003) was a Lebanese novelist and playwright who made significant contributions to Arabic literature. Her works, such as "The Beirut Blues" and "A Suspended Life," explored themes of identity, displacement, and the complexities of modern Arab society.
Finally, Sarayah Makram-Ebeid (born 1975) is a contemporary Egyptian author and academic. Her novel "Mawlana" received critical acclaim and was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, shedding light on the experiences of women in contemporary Egypt.
People
Sarayah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sarayah 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
Sarayah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sarayah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 620 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sarayah 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 552,830 US residents.
Is Sarayah a common name?
We classify Sarayah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 625 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sarayah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sarayah was 2016, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sarayah is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sarayah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 380 people with the name Sarayah, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,078 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 Sarayah 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 Sarayah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sarayah appears almost entirely female. Of the 389 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Sarayah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarayah is Black at 54.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (15.8%). 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 Sarayah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sarayah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.2% (206 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 Sarayah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sarayah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sarayah 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 Sarayah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sarayah 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 Sarayah 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 Sarayah?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Sarayah on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.