Sarra
Arabic feminine name derived from "sarab" meaning "mirage" or "desert".
Name Census estimates that about 636 living Americans carry the first name Sarra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sarra today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sarra births was 1997 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sarra. 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
636
~ 1 in 538,922 Americans
Peak year
1997
29 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,216
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Sarra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sarra from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 210 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sarra 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 Sarra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sarras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sarra
The name Sarra is derived from the Hebrew name Sarah, which means "princess" or "noblewoman." It has its origins in the ancient Near East and can be traced back to biblical times.
In the Hebrew Bible, Sarah was the wife of the patriarch Abraham and the mother of Isaac. She is considered an important figure in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The name Sarah is mentioned numerous times throughout the biblical texts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sarra is found in the works of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BC to 17 AD. In his work "Metamorphoses," he refers to a character named Sarra, who was a priestess of the goddess Diana.
During the Middle Ages, the name Sarra was relatively uncommon in Europe, but it gained popularity in the Renaissance period. One notable figure from this time was Sarra Burgia, an Italian painter and engraver born in 1548 in Venice.
In the 17th century, Sarra Copia Sullam was a notable Jewish writer and poet from Venice, Italy. She was born in 1592 and is considered one of the first female Jewish writers to have her works published.
Another notable figure with the name Sarra was Sarra Brahe, a Swedish countess and writer who lived from 1590 to 1662. She is known for her diary, which provides valuable insights into the daily life of the Swedish nobility during that time.
In the 19th century, Sarra Garnier was a French novelist and writer who lived from 1835 to 1912. She is best known for her novels that explored the lives of women in French society during that era.
Throughout history, the name Sarra has been used across different cultures and regions, although it has remained relatively uncommon. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Hebrew name Sarah, which has significant religious and cultural significance.
People
Sarra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sarra 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
Sarra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sarra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 636 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sarra 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 538,922 US residents.
Is Sarra a common name?
We classify Sarra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 662 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sarra most popular?
The single biggest year for Sarra was 1997, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sarra is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sarra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sarra 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.
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.