Sia
Of Scandinavian origin, meaning "victory" or "triumphant".
Name Census estimates that about 2,545 living Americans carry the first name Sia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sia births was 2022 (212 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sia. 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 Sia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Sia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 134,678 Americans
Peak year
2022
212 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
1991 SSA rank
#1,270
Tracked since 1968
Census
Sia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,405 people with the first name Sia, which placed it at #6,624 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
#6,624
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,405 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sia is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.7%) and White (13.3%). 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 Sia 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 Sia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander57.4% · 1,381
- Black or African American18.7% · 449
- White13.3% · 321
- Two or more races5.4% · 130
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 105
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Sia
Out of the 2,579 babies given the name Sia since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Sia as a male name
- Ranked #9,425 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (5 births)
Sia as a female name
- Ranked #1,270 in 2024
- 183 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (212 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sia leans strongly female. 2,202 people counted with this name were female (91.8%), compared with 197 male bearers (8.2%).
Popularity
Sia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,026 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sia 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 Sia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, New Jersey, New York recorded the most babies named Sia, while Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 93 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sia
The name Sia has its origins in the Sanskrit language of ancient India, believed to have been derived from the word "siddha," which means "accomplished" or "perfected." This name gained popularity in the Indian subcontinent during the medieval period.
One of the earliest known references to the name Sia can be found in the Hindu sacred text, the Mahabharata. It mentions a character named Sia, who was a skilled archer and warrior. Additionally, in the 7th century AD, there was a famous Indian mathematician and astronomer named Sia Siddhanta, who made significant contributions to the field of astronomy.
Historically, the name Sia has been associated with individuals who have achieved great accomplishments or attained a high level of spiritual enlightenment. One notable figure was Sia al-Hadrami, an 11th-century Sufi mystic and scholar from Yemen, who played a crucial role in spreading Islamic teachings in Southeast Asia.
In the realm of art and culture, Sia Furler, born in 1975, is a renowned Australian singer-songwriter and music video director. She is known for her unique vocal style and has won numerous awards, including nine ARIA Music Awards and a Billboard Music Award.
Another notable Sia was Sia Lloyd Benjamins, a South African activist who fought against apartheid and advocated for women's rights. She was born in 1904 and played a significant role in the anti-apartheid movement during the 20th century.
Furthermore, Sia Nyorkor Mensah, born in 1940, was a Ghanaian politician and women's rights activist. She served as the chairperson of the National Council on Women and Development in Ghana and worked tirelessly to promote gender equality and women's empowerment.
In the field of literature, Sia Figiel, born in 1967, is a renowned Samoan novelist and poet. Her works explore themes of identity, culture, and the experiences of indigenous Pacific Islanders. She has received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Commonwealth Writers' Prize.
While the name Sia has its roots in ancient India, it has been embraced and celebrated across various cultures and regions throughout history, reflecting the diverse and accomplished individuals who have carried this moniker.
People
Sia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sia 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
Sia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,545 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sia 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 134,678 US residents.
Is Sia a common name?
We classify Sia as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,579 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sia most popular?
The single biggest year for Sia was 2022, when 212 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sia 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 Sia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,405 people with the name Sia, or 0.80 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,624 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 Sia 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 Sia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sia leans strongly female. 2,202 people counted with this name were female (91.8%), compared with 197 male bearers (8.2%). 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 Sia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sia is Asian/Pacific Islander at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Black (18.7%) and White (13.3%). 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 Sia most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (1,381 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 Sia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sia a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Sia 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 Sia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sia 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 Sia 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 are named Sia?
Want to know how many people have the name Sia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.