Siah
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "dark" or "black".
Name Census estimates that about 537 living Americans carry the first name Siah. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Siah today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Siah births was 2021 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Siah. 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 Siah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
537
~ 1 in 638,276 Americans
Peak year
2021
49 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,668
Tracked since 1999
Census
Siah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 519 people with the first name Siah, which placed it at #20,044 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
#20,044
National first-name rank
People counted
519
519 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Siah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siah is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and White (14.6%). 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 Siah 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 Siah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.6% · 268
- Hispanic or Latino16.0% · 83
- White14.6% · 76
- Two or more races8.3% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.6% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.9% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Siah
Siah is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 541 total registrations, 335 (61.9%) were male and 206 (38.1%) were female.
Siah as a male name
- Ranked #4,668 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (34 births)
Siah as a female name
- Ranked #13,235 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Siah on both sides of the split. Of the 515 people counted with this name, 262 were male (50.9%) and 253 were female (49.1%).
Popularity
Siah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Siah from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 236 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
Siah 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 Siah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Siahs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Siah, while Pennsylvania, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Siah
The name Siah is believed to have originated from the Persian language. It is derived from the Old Persian word "siah," which means "black" or "dark." The name has been in use since ancient times in various regions of the Middle East and Central Asia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Siah can be found in the Avestan texts, which are the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism. Siah was mentioned as the name of a legendary figure who played a significant role in the mythology of ancient Persia.
During the Sassanid Empire (224-651 AD), which ruled over a vast territory stretching from modern-day Iran to parts of Central Asia, the name Siah was relatively common among the nobility and aristocracy. Several historical records from this period mention individuals bearing the name Siah.
In the 9th century AD, a prominent Persian poet and scholar named Siah al-Khurasani lived in the city of Nishapur, which was a major center of learning and culture during the Islamic Golden Age. He was renowned for his contributions to literature and philosophy.
Another notable figure with the name Siah was Siah Naqshband, a revered Sufi mystic and spiritual leader who lived in the 14th century. He was the founder of the Naqshbandi order, one of the most influential Sufi orders in the Islamic world.
During the 16th century, a Persian calligrapher and artist named Siah Qalam gained fame for his exceptional skills in calligraphy and manuscript illumination. His works were highly sought after and can be found in various museums and collections around the world.
In more recent times, Siah Armajani, an Iranian-American sculptor and architect, has gained international recognition for his unique public artworks and installations. Born in 1939, he is known for his explorations of Bridge Construction, a philosophy that combines art, architecture, and social activism.
While the name Siah has its roots in the Persian language, it has also been adopted and used in various cultures throughout history, particularly in the Middle East and Central Asia. The meaning of "black" or "dark" associated with the name has been interpreted in different ways, ranging from physical characteristics to spiritual or metaphorical connotations.
People
Siah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Siah 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
Siah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Siah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 537 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Siah 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 638,276 US residents.
Is Siah a common name?
We classify Siah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 541 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Siah most popular?
The single biggest year for Siah was 2021, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Siah is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Siah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 519 people with the name Siah, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,044 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 Siah 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 Siah?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Siah on both sides of the split. Of the 515 people counted with this name, 262 were male (50.9%) and 253 were female (49.1%). 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 Siah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siah is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and White (14.6%). 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 Siah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Siah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (268 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 Siah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Siah a male name?
Yes, 61.9% of people registered as Siah 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 Siah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Siah 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 Siah 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 share the name Siah?
Want to know how many people have the name Siah? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.