Sinclair
A masculine name derived from the Old French phrase "Saint Clair", meaning "holy light".
Name Census estimates that about 1,277 living Americans carry the first name Sinclair. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 76.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Sinclair today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sinclair births was 2024 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sinclair. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 268,406 Americans
Peak year
2024
41 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,857
Tracked since 1900
Gender
Gender distribution for Sinclair
Sinclair is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,869 total registrations, 1,421 (76.0%) were male and 448 (24.0%) were female.
Sinclair as a male name
- Ranked #6,755 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (29 births)
Sinclair as a female name
- Ranked #4,857 in 2024
- 28 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (28 births)
Popularity
Sinclair: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sinclair from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 221 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Sinclair remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sinclair 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 Sinclair during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sinclairs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. South Carolina, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Sinclair, while North Carolina, Georgia, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sinclair
The name Sinclair has its origins in the Old French language, stemming from the words "saint" meaning holy or sacred, and "clair" meaning clear or bright. It likely emerged in the Middle Ages as a descriptive name referring to someone who lived near a place of religious significance or a holy spring.
In the 12th century, the name was first recorded as a surname in Scotland, where it was Anglicized from the Old French "Saint-Clair". This surname was borne by a prominent Scottish noble family who held lands in the region of West Lothian.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Sinclair was Sinclair of Roslin (c. 1180 - 1244), a Scottish nobleman and builder of Roslin Chapel, known for its intricate carvings and architectural marvels.
In the realm of literature, the name Sinclair appears in the 14th-century poetic work "The Kingis Quair" by James I of Scotland, where he refers to a character named "Fair Sinclair".
During the Renaissance period, Sinclair Trimborn (1492 - 1560) was a German humanist scholar and theologian who played a significant role in the Reformation movement.
In the 18th century, Sinclair Lewis (1885 - 1951) was an American novelist and the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1930. His notable works include "Main Street", "Babbitt", and "Arrowsmith".
Another prominent figure was Sinclair Beiles (1930 - 2000), a South African writer, academic, and anti-apartheid activist who campaigned for civil rights and racial equality through his literary works and teachings.
Sinclair Ferguson (born 1948) is a Scottish theologian and author, known for his contributions to Reformed theology and his numerous books on Christian doctrine and practice.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse cultural contexts in which the name Sinclair has been used, highlighting its enduring presence across various eras and disciplines.
People
Sinclair + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sinclair 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
Sinclair: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sinclair?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,277 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sinclair 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 268,406 US residents.
Is Sinclair a common name?
We classify Sinclair as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,869 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sinclair most popular?
The single biggest year for Sinclair was 2024, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sinclair is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sinclair a male name?
Yes, 76.0% of people registered as Sinclair 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.
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.