Sioux
A name used by certain Native American tribes meaning "little snake".
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Sioux. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sioux today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sioux births was 1955 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sioux. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Sioux. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
1955
7 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1997 SSA rank
#15,807
Tracked since 1953
Popularity
Sioux: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sioux from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 19 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Sioux remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sioux 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 Sioux during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sioux
The name Sioux is derived from the French word "Nadouessioux," which was a corruption of the Algonquian term "Nadowe-is-iw" meaning "little snakes." The name refers to the Sioux people, a confederation of Native American tribes that originally inhabited parts of the present-day United States and Canada.
The first recorded use of the name Sioux dates back to the 17th century when French explorers and traders encountered these tribes in the Great Lakes region. The name was initially used to refer to a specific group of tribes, but it eventually became a more general term for the larger confederation of tribes known as the Sioux Nation.
While the name Sioux is not found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been used as a personal name throughout history, particularly among those with Native American heritage or those who have an interest in Native American culture and history.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sioux was Sioux Kaska, a leader of the Kaska Dena Nation in what is now the Canadian territory of Yukon. He lived in the 19th century and played a significant role in negotiating treaties with the Canadian government.
Another notable figure with the name Sioux was Sioux Ohindsia, a Mohawk leader and chief from the 18th century. He was instrumental in forging alliances between the Mohawk and other Native American tribes during the French and Indian War.
In the world of literature, Sioux was the name of a character in the novel "The Light in the Forest" by Conrad Richter, published in 1953. The character was a young Native American boy who was captured by settlers and raised in colonial Pennsylvania.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Sioux was Sioux Calhoun, an American actress and singer who was active in the mid-20th century. She appeared in several films and television shows, including "The Lone Ranger" and "The Fugitive."
Another notable figure with the name Sioux was Sioux Browne, an American author and screenwriter who lived from 1919 to 2006. She wrote several books, including "The Blazing Trail" and "The Savage Land," which explored themes of Native American culture and history.
People
Sioux + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sioux 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
Sioux: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sioux?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sioux 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Sioux a common name?
We classify Sioux as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sioux most popular?
The single biggest year for Sioux was 1955, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sioux is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Sioux a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sioux 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.
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.