Sariah
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly meaning "princess" or "lady".
Name Census estimates that about 9,192 living Americans carry the first name Sariah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sariah today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sariah births was 2011 (496 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sariah. 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 Sariah with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sariah is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
9.2K
~ 1 in 37,288 Americans
Peak year
2011
496 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,011
Tracked since 1969
Census
Sariah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,514 people with the first name Sariah, which placed it at #3,274 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
#3,274
National first-name rank
People counted
6.5K
6,514 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sariah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sariah is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (22.6%). 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 Sariah 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 Sariah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.1% · 2,545
- White25.4% · 1,656
- Hispanic or Latino22.6% · 1,474
- Two or more races8.4% · 544
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 191
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 104
Popularity
Sariah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sariah from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,782 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sariah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sariah 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 Sariah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sariahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Sariah, while Minnesota, Arkansas, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 200 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sariah
The name Sariah is believed to have its origins in the Hebrew language, deriving from the root words "sarah" and "yah". The name "sarah" means "princess" or "noblewoman", while "yah" is a shortened form of the Hebrew name for God, "Yahweh". Thus, the name Sariah can be interpreted to mean "Princess of God" or "Noblewoman of God".
Historically, the name Sariah is most prominently associated with the Book of Mormon, a sacred text in the Latter-day Saint movement. In the Book of Mormon, Sariah is introduced as the wife of the prophet Lehi, who is depicted as leading his family from Jerusalem around 600 BCE. Sariah is portrayed as a faithful and courageous woman who endures many hardships while following her husband's divine guidance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sariah outside of religious texts is found in the 17th century. Sariah Whiting, born in 1635 in Massachusetts Bay Colony, is believed to be one of the first individuals bearing this name in the American colonies. Her name was likely influenced by the Book of Mormon, which was published in 1830 and gained widespread recognition among early members of the Latter-day Saint movement.
Among notable historical figures with the name Sariah is Sariah Louisa Sargent, born in 1807 in Massachusetts. She was a prominent figure in the early Latter-day Saint movement and was among the first members to be baptized in the movement's early days. Another notable individual is Sariah Elizabeth Fackrell, born in 1872 in Utah, who was a pioneer in the Latter-day Saint settlement of Idaho and served as a midwife and nurse.
In the 19th century, Sariah Sanford, born in 1843 in New York, was a prominent educator and advocate for women's rights. She founded the Young Ladies' Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was one of the first schools in the region dedicated to providing higher education for women. Additionally, Sariah Asenath Delano, born in 1809 in Vermont, was a notable author and poet who published several works that touched on themes of spirituality and personal growth.
While the name Sariah has its roots in the Hebrew language and religious traditions, it has also been embraced by individuals from various backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems throughout history. Its meaning and significance have resonated with many, making it a name that has stood the test of time.
People
Sariah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sariah 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
Sariah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sariah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,192 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sariah 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 37,288 US residents.
Is Sariah a common name?
We classify Sariah as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sariah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sariah was 2011, when 496 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sariah is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sariah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,514 people with the name Sariah, or 2.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,274 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 Sariah 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 Sariah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sariah appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,512 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Sariah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sariah is Black at 39.1%. The next largest groups are White (25.4%) and Hispanic (22.6%). 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 Sariah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sariah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.1% (2,545 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 Sariah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sariah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sariah 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 Sariah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sariah 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 Sariah 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 Sariah as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.