Siarra
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a variant of Sierra.
Name Census estimates that about 705 living Americans carry the first name Siarra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Siarra today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Siarra births was 2002 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Siarra. 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
705
~ 1 in 486,176 Americans
Peak year
2002
46 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2020 SSA rank
#14,856
Tracked since 1985
Census
Siarra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 614 people with the first name Siarra, which placed it at #17,775 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
#17,775
National first-name rank
People counted
614
614 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Siarra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siarra is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (24.3%) and Hispanic (20.8%). 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 Siarra 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 Siarra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.9% · 282
- Black or African American24.3% · 149
- Hispanic or Latino20.8% · 128
- Two or more races6.4% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 3
Popularity
Siarra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Siarra from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 327 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Siarra 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 Siarra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Siarras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Siarra, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Siarra
The name Siarra has its origins in the ancient Celtic cultures of Western Europe, particularly in regions that are now part of modern-day Ireland and Scotland. It is believed to be derived from the Old Irish word "siar," which means "westward" or "towards the west," reflecting the geographical orientation of these lands.
Siarra is thought to have been a popular name among the Celtic tribes of the British Isles during the Iron Age and early medieval periods, spanning from around the 5th century BC to the 8th century AD. While no definitive ancient texts or historical records mention the name explicitly, its roots can be traced back to the linguistic traditions of the Gaelic languages spoken by these ancient peoples.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Siarra can be found in the Irish Annals, which documented significant events and genealogies in medieval Ireland. In the 12th century, a woman named Siarra Ní Dhomhnaill was mentioned as a member of the influential Ó Domhnaill (O'Donnell) dynasty, a powerful clan in Ulster.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Siarra. One such figure was Siarra MacLean (1570-1645), a Scottish noblewoman from the Isle of Mull who played a pivotal role in the Clan MacLean during the tumultuous times of the Scottish Civil War.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Siarra O'Connor (1820-1892), an Irish-American activist and philanthropist who dedicated her life to advocating for the rights of Irish immigrants in the United States during the 19th century.
In the realm of literature, Siarra Wilde (1865-1923) was a renowned Irish poet and writer who contributed significantly to the Celtic Revival movement, celebrating the rich cultural heritage of her homeland through her works.
Moving into the 20th century, Siarra McNeill (1912-1998) was a Scottish artist and sculptor whose works captured the rugged beauty of the Scottish landscape and its people, earning her international recognition.
Lastly, Siarra Byrne (1930-2010) was an Irish academic and historian who specialized in the study of medieval Celtic literature and linguistics, making significant contributions to the understanding of the Gaelic languages and their historical development.
People
Siarra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Siarra 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
Siarra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Siarra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 705 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Siarra 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 486,176 US residents.
Is Siarra a common name?
We classify Siarra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 723 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Siarra most popular?
The single biggest year for Siarra was 2002, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Siarra is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Siarra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 614 people with the name Siarra, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,775 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 Siarra 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 Siarra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Siarra appears almost entirely female. Of the 608 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Siarra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Siarra is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (24.3%) and Hispanic (20.8%). 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 Siarra most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Siarra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.9% (282 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 Siarra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Siarra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Siarra 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 Siarra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Siarra 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 Siarra 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 Siarra as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.