Seher
A Persian name meaning "morning breeze" or "dawn".
Name Census estimates that about 256 living Americans carry the first name Seher. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Seher today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Seher births was 2020 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Seher. 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 Seher with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
256
~ 1 in 1,338,884 Americans
Peak year
2020
20 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,920
Tracked since 1989
Census
Seher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 363 people with the first name Seher, which placed it at #25,907 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
#25,907
National first-name rank
People counted
363
363 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Seher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.3%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Seher 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 Seher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander65.3% · 237
- White30.9% · 112
- Black or African American1.1% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 4
- Two or more races1.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Seher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Seher from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 98 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Seher remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Seher 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 Seher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sehers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Seher
The name Seher has its origins in the Persian language, where it means "dawn" or "morning". It is derived from the Persian word "sehar", which refers to the time just before sunrise. The name has been in use for centuries in Persian culture and has also been adopted by other cultures influenced by Persian traditions, such as in parts of Central Asia and the Middle East.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Seher can be found in Persian literature, where it was used as a poetic metaphor for beauty and the arrival of a new day. In the 11th century, the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi used the name in his epic masterpiece, the Shahnameh, to describe the radiance of a beautiful woman.
Throughout history, the name Seher has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded instances is Seher Gazi, a Turkish military commander and statesman who lived in the 12th century. He played a crucial role in the expansion of the Seljuk Empire and is remembered for his military victories and strategic prowess.
Another prominent figure with the name Seher was Seher Khan Nohani, a 16th-century Pashtun poet and warrior from modern-day Pakistan. He was celebrated for his poetic works, which explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition. His poetry continues to be widely studied and appreciated in the region.
In the 19th century, Seher Razi was a renowned Persian artist and calligrapher. Her intricate and beautiful calligraphic works adorned the walls of mosques and palaces throughout Iran. She is considered one of the most accomplished calligraphers of her time and her works are highly valued by art collectors and museums.
In more recent times, Seher Malik was a Pakistani actress and television host who gained popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. She starred in numerous television dramas and films, and her performances were widely acclaimed for their emotional depth and authenticity.
Seher Abi Akl is a contemporary Lebanese artist and sculptor. Her works, which often explore themes of identity, memory, and displacement, have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world. She is celebrated for her unique approach to materials and her ability to capture profound emotions through her sculptures.
People
Seher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Seher 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
Seher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Seher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 256 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Seher 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 1,338,884 US residents.
Is Seher a common name?
We classify Seher as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 259 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Seher most popular?
The single biggest year for Seher was 2020, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Seher is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Seher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 363 people with the name Seher, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,907 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 Seher 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 Seher?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Seher leans strongly female. 356 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Seher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Seher is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.3%. The next largest groups are White (30.9%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Seher most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Seher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (237 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 Seher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Seher a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Seher 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 Seher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Seher 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 Seher 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 Seher?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Seher at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.