Satin
Satin is a smooth and glossy fabric.
Name Census estimates that about 355 living Americans carry the first name Satin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Satin today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Satin births was 1986 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Satin. 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
355
~ 1 in 965,505 Americans
Peak year
1986
26 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2003 SSA rank
#11,168
Tracked since 1975
Census
Satin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 350 people with the first name Satin, which placed it at #26,543 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
#26,543
National first-name rank
People counted
350
350 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
46.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Satin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satin is Black at 46.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Satin 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 Satin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American46.6% · 163
- White38.0% · 133
- Two or more races5.4% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Satin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Satin from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 174 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Satin 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 Satin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Satins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Satin
The name Satin is derived from the Middle English word "satyn," which itself stems from the Old French "satín" or "satin." This term was initially borrowed from the Medieval Latin "satinus" or "satetinus," which referred to a glossy silk fabric. The fabric's name is thought to originate from the Arabic "zaytuni," meaning "from Zaytoum" or the Chinese city of Quanzhou, a prominent center of silk production and trade during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Satin can be traced back to the 16th century in England. It was likely initially used as a nickname or surname for individuals associated with the silk trade or the production of satin fabric. As a given name, it gained popularity in the 19th and 20th centuries, perhaps influenced by the luxurious and elegant connotations of the fabric it derives from.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Satin was Satin Bassenge, a French merchant and silk trader who lived in the early 17th century. Another notable figure was Satin Doll, a famous burlesque dancer and performer in the early 20th century, known for her provocative satin costumes.
In the realm of literature, the name Satin appears in the works of renowned authors. For instance, Satin Harrington is a character in the novel "The Viceroy of Ouidah" by Bruce Chatwin, published in 1980. Additionally, Satin Summers is a character in the novel "The Satin Sash" by Mildred Wirt Benson, published in 1943.
In the world of music, the name Satin has been immortalized in several songs. One notable example is the jazz standard "Satin Doll" composed by Duke Ellington and Johnny Mercer in 1953, which became a signature tune for Ellington's orchestra. Another example is the song "Satin Sheets" by Jeremih, released in 2015.
Other notable individuals with the name Satin include Satin Jackets, an American basketball player born in 1965, and Satin Dolls, a French singer and actress born in 1940. These examples highlight the diverse contexts in which the name has been used throughout history, reflecting its association with luxury, glamour, and artistic expression.
People
Satin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Satin 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
Satin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Satin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 355 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Satin 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 965,505 US residents.
Is Satin a common name?
We classify Satin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 373 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Satin most popular?
The single biggest year for Satin was 1986, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Satin is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Satin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 350 people with the name Satin, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,543 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 Satin 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 Satin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Satin leans strongly female. 331 people counted with this name were female (93.2%), compared with 24 male bearers (6.8%). 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 Satin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Satin is Black at 46.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Satin most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Satin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.6% (163 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 Satin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Satin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Satin 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 Satin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Satin 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 Satin 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 Satin?
Find out how many people share the name Satin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.