Serge
Of Greek origin, signifying leader or attendant.
Name Census estimates that about 1,305 living Americans carry the first name Serge. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Serge today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Serge births was 1972 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Serge. 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 Serge with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 262,647 Americans
Peak year
1972
39 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,197
Tracked since 1914
Census
Serge in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,986 people with the first name Serge, which placed it at #3,919 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
#3,919
National first-name rank
People counted
5.0K
4,986 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Serge
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Serge is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (40.7%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Serge 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 Serge at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.2% · 2,602
- Black or African American40.7% · 2,027
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 194
- Two or more races1.9% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 10
Popularity
Serge: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Serge from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 243 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Serge 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 Serge during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Serges live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Serge, while New Jersey, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 118 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Serge
The given name Serge has its origins in the Latin language, where it was derived from the name Sergius. Sergius itself is believed to have originated from the Roman family name "Sergius," which was derived from the Latin word "serere," meaning "to plant" or "to sow." This suggests that the name may have been associated with agricultural or farming communities in ancient Rome.
The earliest recorded use of the name Sergius can be traced back to the 3rd century AD, when it was borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs. One notable figure was Saint Sergius, a Roman soldier who was martyred during the reign of Emperor Maximian in the early 4th century. His story and veneration as a saint likely contributed to the popularity of the name among early Christians.
In the Middle Ages, the name Serge became more widespread across Europe, particularly in regions influenced by the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was commonly used in territories such as Russia, Greece, and parts of Eastern Europe. One famous bearer of the name was Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392), a revered Russian monk and one of the most influential figures in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The French form of the name, Serge, gained popularity during the Renaissance period. One of the earliest recorded instances of this spelling was Serge I de Longueville (1476-1516), a French nobleman and military commander. Another notable figure was Serge Rabelais (1495-1553), a French Renaissance writer and physician, best known for his satirical novels.
In the 19th century, the name Serge gained further recognition with figures such as Serge Diaghilev (1872-1929), a Russian art critic and impresario who was instrumental in the revival of ballet in the early 20th century. Another famous bearer was Serge Koussevitzky (1874-1951), a Russian-born conductor and double-bassist who made significant contributions to the development of classical music in the United States.
Other notable historical figures with the name Serge include Serge Lifar (1905-1986), a Ukrainian-born French ballet dancer and choreographer, and Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991), a French singer, songwriter, and actor who left a lasting impact on the world of popular music.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Serge
People
Serge + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Serge 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
Serge: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Serge?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,305 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Serge 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 262,647 US residents.
Is Serge a common name?
We classify Serge as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,619 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Serge most popular?
The single biggest year for Serge was 1972, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Serge is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Serge in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,986 people with the name Serge, or 1.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,919 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 Serge 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 Serge?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Serge appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,986 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Serge?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Serge is White at 52.2%. The next largest groups are Black (40.7%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Serge most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Serge in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.2% (2,602 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 Serge in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Serge a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Serge in the SSA data are male. 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 Serge still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Serge 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 Serge 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 have Serge as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.