Savanha
Of undetermined origin, potentially a spelling variant of Savannah.
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the first name Savanha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Savanha today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Savanha births was 2001 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Savanha. 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 Savanha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
131
~ 1 in 2,616,445 Americans
Peak year
2001
10 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2017 SSA rank
#18,018
Tracked since 1985
Census
Savanha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 166 people with the first name Savanha, which placed it at #42,903 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
#42,903
National first-name rank
People counted
166
166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Savanha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Savanha is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Savanha 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 Savanha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.6% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino20.5% · 34
- Two or more races8.4% · 14
- Black or African American7.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 3
Popularity
Savanha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Savanha from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 63 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Savanha 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 Savanha 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 Savanha
The given name Savanha traces its origins to the ancient Sanskrit language of India, with roots that can be traced back to the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "savanah," which means "meadow" or "grassy plain." This suggests that the name may have originally been associated with agricultural communities or those living in pastoral settings.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name Savanha appeared in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, often referring to individuals who lived a simple, nature-centric life. One notable mention is found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest extant texts in any Indo-European language, where a sage named Savanha is described as a wise and revered figure.
The first recorded use of the name Savanha can be traced back to the 3rd century BCE, when a renowned scholar and philosopher from the Mauryan Empire bore this name. This philosopher, known as Savanha the Wise, is credited with making significant contributions to the fields of logic and epistemology.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Savanha. In the 7th century CE, Savanha was the name of a revered Buddhist monk who is said to have played a crucial role in the spread of Buddhism across Southeast Asia. His teachings and writings on mindfulness and compassion continue to influence Buddhist philosophy to this day.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Savanha was a 12th-century poet and musician from the Deccan Plateau region of India. Known for her mastery of the classical Indian musical form, Savanha's compositions and poetry have been preserved and are still studied by scholars and performers alike.
In the 16th century, a famous explorer and navigator from the Indian subcontinent named Savanha embarked on several pioneering voyages across the Indian Ocean. His detailed maps and navigational charts were instrumental in advancing maritime trade and exploration during that era.
More recently, in the 20th century, Savanha was the name of a renowned Indian classical dancer who helped revive and popularize the ancient dance form of Kathak. Her performances and teachings inspired generations of dancers and contributed to the preservation of this rich cultural heritage.
People
Savanha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Savanha 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
Savanha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Savanha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 131 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Savanha 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 2,616,445 US residents.
Is Savanha a common name?
We classify Savanha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Savanha most popular?
The single biggest year for Savanha was 2001, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Savanha is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Savanha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 166 people with the name Savanha, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,903 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 Savanha 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 Savanha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Savanha leans strongly female. 164 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Savanha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Savanha is White at 59.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (20.5%) and Two or More Races (8.4%). 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 Savanha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Savanha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.6% (99 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 Savanha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Savanha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Savanha 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 Savanha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Savanha 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 Savanha 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 share the name Savanha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.