Sarom
A feminine Cambodian name meaning "the moon" or "moonlight".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Sarom. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 66.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Sarom today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sarom births was 1987 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sarom. 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 Sarom. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1987
5 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,264
Tracked since 1987
Census
Sarom in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 266 people with the first name Sarom, which placed it at #31,950 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
#31,950
National first-name rank
People counted
266
266 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sarom
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarom is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Sarom 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 Sarom at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.1% · 261
- White1.1% · 3
- Black or African American0.4% · 1
- Two or more races0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Sarom
Sarom is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 15 total registrations, 10 (66.7%) were male and 5 (33.3%) were female.
Sarom as a male name
- Ranked #9,264 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1987 (5 births)
Sarom as a female name
- Ranked #13,434 in 1988
- 5 female births in 1988
- Peak: 1988 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sarom on both sides of the split. Of the 275 people counted with this name, 105 were male (38.2%) and 170 were female (61.8%).
Popularity
Sarom: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sarom from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Sarom remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sarom 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 Sarom 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 Sarom
The name Sarom originates from the ancient Sanskrit language, which was prevalent in the Indian subcontinent from around the 2nd millennium BCE to the 6th century CE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "sarama," which means "wind" or "breeze." This suggests that the name may have been associated with qualities such as swiftness, freedom, and fluidity.
The earliest known reference to the name Sarom can be found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, which is believed to have been composed between 1500 and 1200 BCE. In the Rigveda, Sarama is depicted as a female deity or a celestial hound who assists the gods in retrieving stolen cattle.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Sarom was Sarom Gangopadhyay, a Bengali poet and playwright who lived from 1872 to 1942. He was known for his contributions to the literary renaissance of Bengal during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another historical figure with the name Sarom was Sarom Bhava, a renowned Indian classical dancer who lived from 1920 to 1986. She was instrumental in promoting and preserving the traditional dance forms of Odissi and Chhau, and was a recipient of the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
In ancient Greek mythology, there was a character named Sarom, who was a warrior and companion of Odysseus during the Trojan War. He is mentioned in Homer's epic poem, the Iliad, which was composed around the 8th century BCE.
During the medieval period, there was a Sarom ibn Mansur, an Arab scholar and philosopher who lived in the 10th century CE. He was known for his works on logic and metaphysics, and his commentaries on the works of Aristotle.
Another notable figure with the name Sarom was Sarom Kaur, a Sikh warrior and poet who lived in the 17th century. She is celebrated for her bravery and her poetic works, which have been preserved in the Sikh tradition.
While the name Sarom may not be as common today as it once was, its rich historical connections to various cultures and traditions across different time periods make it a unique and intriguing name with a fascinating backstory.
People
Sarom + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sarom 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
Sarom: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sarom?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sarom 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Sarom a common name?
We classify Sarom as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sarom most popular?
The single biggest year for Sarom was 1987, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sarom is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sarom in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 266 people with the name Sarom, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,950 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 Sarom 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 Sarom?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sarom on both sides of the split. Of the 275 people counted with this name, 105 were male (38.2%) and 170 were female (61.8%). 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 Sarom?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sarom is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Black (0.4%). 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 Sarom most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sarom in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (261 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 Sarom in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sarom a male name?
Yes, 66.7% of people registered as Sarom 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 Sarom still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sarom 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 Sarom 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 are named Sarom?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.