Sargent
An occupational surname derived from the French word "sergent", meaning an officer.
Name Census estimates that about 33 living Americans carry the first name Sargent. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sargent today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sargent births was 1920 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sargent. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sargent. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
33
~ 1 in 10,386,495 Americans
Peak year
1920
9 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2018 SSA rank
#11,891
Tracked since 1913
Census
Sargent in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 171 people with the first name Sargent, which placed it at #42,203 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
#42,203
National first-name rank
People counted
171
171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sargent
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sargent is White at 65.5%. The next largest groups are Black (19.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Sargent 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 Sargent at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.5% · 112
- Black or African American19.3% · 33
- Two or more races6.4% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Sargent: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sargent from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 31 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sargent 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 Sargent during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sargent
The name Sargent is derived from the Old French word "sergent," which in turn comes from the Latin "serviens," meaning "servant." It originated as an occupational surname for a servant or officer in medieval times.
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the term "sergent" referred to a variety of servants, officers, and officials in positions of authority, such as law enforcement, military, or administrative roles. As a given name, Sargent likely emerged as a way to identify individuals by their occupation or social standing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sargent dates back to the 13th century, when a man named Sargent of Hendun was mentioned in the Assize Rolls of Warwickshire, England, in 1221. This suggests that the name was already in use as a given name by that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sargent. One of the most famous was John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), an American artist renowned for his portraits of the elite in Europe and the United States. His works are considered among the finest examples of late 19th-century Realist portraiture.
Another prominent Sargent was Winthrop Sargent (1753-1820), a Revolutionary War officer and politician who served as the first Secretary of the Northwest Territory and later as the governor of Mississippi Territory. He played a significant role in the early expansion of the United States.
In the literary world, John Sargent (1780-1833) was a British writer and clergyman known for his travel narratives and works on antiquities. His most notable work, "The Mine," published in 1825, was a fictional account of a mining disaster.
Sargent Shriver (1915-2011), an American diplomat and politician, made significant contributions to social programs during his career. He served as the first director of the Peace Corps and later as the U.S. Ambassador to France.
Lastly, Sargent Kendall (1809-1872) was an American entrepreneur and inventor who patented several innovative devices, including an early gas meter and a device for measuring the density of fluids.
These examples illustrate the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of individuals who have borne the name Sargent throughout history, spanning various fields such as art, politics, literature, diplomacy, and innovation.
People
Sargent + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sargent 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
Sargent: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sargent?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 33 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sargent 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 10,386,495 US residents.
Is Sargent a common name?
We classify Sargent as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sargent most popular?
The single biggest year for Sargent was 1920, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sargent is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sargent in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 171 people with the name Sargent, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,203 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 Sargent 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 Sargent?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sargent leans strongly male. 162 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 10 female bearers (5.8%). 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 Sargent?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sargent is White at 65.5%. The next largest groups are Black (19.3%) and Two or More Races (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 Sargent most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sargent in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.5% (112 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 Sargent in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sargent a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sargent in the SSA data are male. 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 Sargent still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sargent 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 Sargent 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 Sargent as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.