Sayra
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "traveler" or "wayfarer".
Name Census estimates that about 1,463 living Americans carry the first name Sayra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sayra today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sayra births was 2000 (83 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sayra. 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 Sayra with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 234,282 Americans
Peak year
2000
83 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,337
Tracked since 1973
Census
Sayra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,267 people with the first name Sayra, which placed it at #6,910 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
#6,910
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sayra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sayra is Hispanic at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Sayra 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 Sayra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino89.8% · 2,035
- White6.3% · 143
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 60
- Black or African American0.5% · 12
- Two or more races0.5% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Sayra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sayra from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 601 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
Sayra 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 Sayra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sayras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Sayra, while Arizona, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 233 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sayra
The name Sayra has its roots in the Arabic language and culture, originating in the Middle East during the medieval period. It is derived from the Arabic word "sayrah," which means "journey" or "travel." This name carries a sense of adventure and exploration, reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of many Arab tribes in the past.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sayra can be found in the historical accounts of the Abbasid Caliphate, which ruled over a vast empire stretching from North Africa to Central Asia between the 8th and 13th centuries. During this era, the name was associated with female travelers and explorers who embarked on long journeys across the trade routes of the Silk Road.
In the 10th century, a famous female poet named Sayra al-Andalusiya graced the courts of the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba, Spain. Her poetry celebrated the beauty of nature and the joys of travel, reflecting the spirit of her name. Another notable figure was Sayra bint Abi Bakr, a renowned Islamic scholar and teacher who lived in the 12th century and was celebrated for her contributions to the fields of hadith (prophetic traditions) and jurisprudence.
The name Sayra also appeared in various literary works and historical chronicles throughout the medieval period. One such reference can be found in the "Kitab al-Aghani" (The Book of Songs), a renowned anthology of Arabic poetry and music compiled in the 9th century. This work includes mentions of several women named Sayra, highlighting the cultural significance of the name during that time.
In the 14th century, a prominent female traveler and explorer from Morocco, Sayra al-Maghribiya, embarked on a remarkable journey across North Africa and the Middle East, documenting her experiences in a travelogue that became a valuable historical record of the era.
Another notable figure was Sayra bint Khalid, a distinguished military leader and strategist who lived in the 7th century during the early years of the Islamic caliphate. She played a crucial role in various military campaigns and was renowned for her bravery and leadership skills.
While the name Sayra has roots in the Arab world and Islamic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in other regions as well. Over the centuries, it has been embraced by diverse communities, each adding their own cultural nuances and interpretations to the name's meaning and significance.
People
Sayra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sayra 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
Sayra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sayra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,463 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sayra 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 234,282 US residents.
Is Sayra a common name?
We classify Sayra as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,496 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sayra most popular?
The single biggest year for Sayra was 2000, when 83 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sayra is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sayra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,267 people with the name Sayra, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,910 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 Sayra 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 Sayra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sayra appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,267 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Sayra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sayra is Hispanic at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Sayra most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sayra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (2,035 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 Sayra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sayra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sayra 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 Sayra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sayra 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 Sayra 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 Sayra?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.