Sedalia
Feminine name of Latin origin meaning "city of cedars".
Name Census estimates that about 37 living Americans carry the first name Sedalia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sedalia today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sedalia births was 1914 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sedalia. 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
- • The typical person named Sedalia is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Sedalias were born before 1971.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sedalia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
37
~ 1 in 9,263,631 Americans
Peak year
1914
15 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2007 SSA rank
#20,026
Tracked since 1903
Census
Sedalia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 163 people with the first name Sedalia, which placed it at #43,340 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
#43,340
National first-name rank
People counted
163
163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sedalia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sedalia is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Hispanic (12.3%). 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 Sedalia 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 Sedalia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.4% · 92
- White24.5% · 40
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 20
- Two or more races4.9% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 3
Popularity
Sedalia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sedalia from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 90 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sedalia 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 Sedalia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sedalias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sedalia
The name Sedalia has its origins in the Latin language, with the root word "sedalis" meaning "companion" or "comrade." This suggests that the name may have been used to denote a sense of camaraderie or fellowship among those who bore it.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Sedalia was occasionally used as a feminine variant of the male name Sedalia, which was derived from the same Latin root. However, records of its usage during this period are scarce, and it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time and region where the name first gained popularity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sedalia can be found in the writings of the 8th-century Benedictine monk and scholar, Alcuin of York. In his work "De Virtutibus et Vitiis," Alcuin mentions a nun named Sedalia, whom he praises for her piety and devotion to her religious community.
During the Middle Ages, the name Sedalia gained some traction in various parts of Europe, particularly in the region that is now modern-day France and Germany. One notable bearer of the name was Sedalia of Meaux, a 12th-century Benedictine abbess who was renowned for her wisdom and leadership abilities.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Sedalia experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Italy. One of the most famous individuals to bear the name during this time was Sedalia Piccolomini, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 15th century.
In the 17th century, the name Sedalia found its way to the New World, with records indicating that a woman by the name of Sedalia Brewster was among the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts.
Another notable figure in history who bore the name Sedalia was Sedalia Trumble, an American educator and suffragist who played a crucial role in the women's rights movement of the late 19th century.
While the name Sedalia has not been as widely used in recent times, it has left an indelible mark on history, carried by individuals who embodied the spirit of camaraderie and fellowship that the name itself represents.
People
Sedalia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sedalia 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
Sedalia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sedalia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 37 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sedalia 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 9,263,631 US residents.
Is Sedalia a common name?
We classify Sedalia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 256 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sedalia most popular?
The single biggest year for Sedalia was 1914, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sedalia is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sedalia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 163 people with the name Sedalia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,340 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 Sedalia 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 Sedalia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sedalia leans strongly female. 158 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Sedalia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sedalia is Black at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Hispanic (12.3%). 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 Sedalia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Sedalia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (92 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 Sedalia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sedalia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sedalia 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 Sedalia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sedalia 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 Sedalia 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 common is the name Sedalia?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Sedalia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.