Sena
Of Latin origin, a military rank or a leader.
Name Census estimates that about 2,048 living Americans carry the first name Sena. It is a predominantly female name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Sena today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sena births was 2023 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sena. 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 167,361 Americans
Peak year
2023
72 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,105
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Sena
Sena leans heavily female at 94.1% of total registrations, but 194 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Sena as a male name
- Ranked #9,696 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (14 births)
Sena as a female name
- Ranked #3,105 in 2024
- 52 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (62 births)
Popularity
Sena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sena from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 518 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sena 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 Sena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Senas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Sena, while Minnesota, Maryland, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 38 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sena
The name Sena is believed to have its origins in ancient Sanskrit, an Indo-Aryan language that served as the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent during the early centuries of the Common Era. The word "Sena" in Sanskrit translates to "army" or "battalion," suggesting a possible association with military prowess or leadership.
Sena gained prominence as a personal name during the reign of the Sena dynasty, a Hindu royal lineage that ruled over parts of present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal between the 11th and 12th centuries. Several notable kings from this dynasty bore the name Sena, including Vijayasena (reigned c. 1096-1159), who is credited with establishing the dynasty's rule.
In Hindu mythology, Sena is also the name of a minor deity mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Sena is described as the personification of the army and is revered as a protector of warriors and soldiers.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Sena can be found in the Arthashastra, an ancient Indian treatise on statecraft, economic policy, and military strategy written by the philosopher Kautilya during the 4th century BCE. The text mentions a minister named Sena who served under the Maurya Empire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sena:
1. Sena Aunmuam (1955-present), a Thai author and academic known for her works on Southeast Asian literature and culture.
2. Sena Galič (1964-present), a Slovenian politician and former Minister of Defense.
3. Sena Kalyan Sundara Raman (1890-1965), an Indian mathematician and academic who made significant contributions to the field of number theory.
4. Sena Fet (1903-1959), a Belarusian writer and poet, considered one of the most prominent figures of the Belarusian literary renaissance.
5. Sena Jurinac (1921-2011), a Croatian operatic soprano who performed at major opera houses worldwide and is renowned for her interpretations of Richard Strauss's works.
While the name Sena has its roots in ancient Sanskrit and gained prominence during the Sena dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, it has since been adopted across various cultures and regions, often carrying connotations of strength, leadership, and military valor.
People
Sena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sena 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
Sena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,048 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sena 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 167,361 US residents.
Is Sena a common name?
We classify Sena as "Rare". It ranks above 93.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,264 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sena most popular?
The single biggest year for Sena was 2023, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sena is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sena a female name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Sena 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.
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.