Sisto
Derived from the Latin name Sextus, meaning "sixth-born son".
Name Census estimates that about 194 living Americans carry the first name Sisto. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sisto today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sisto births was 1935 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sisto. 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
194
~ 1 in 1,766,775 Americans
Peak year
1935
15 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2008 SSA rank
#12,335
Tracked since 1918
Census
Sisto in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 267 people with the first name Sisto, which placed it at #31,863 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
#31,863
National first-name rank
People counted
267
267 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
70.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sisto
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sisto is Hispanic at 70.4%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Sisto 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 Sisto at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino70.4% · 188
- White23.6% · 63
- Black or African American4.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Sisto: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sisto from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sisto 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 Sisto during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sistos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sisto
The name Sisto originates from the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the Latin word "sextus," which means "sixth" or "the sixth one." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to a sixth-born son in a family.
Sisto was a relatively common name among the ancient Romans, particularly during the Roman Republic and Empire periods. It was borne by several notable historical figures, including Pope Sisto IV, whose birth name was Francesco della Rovere. He was pontiff from 1471 to 1484 and is remembered for his patronage of the arts, including commissioning the Sistine Chapel, which bears his name.
Another famous bearer of the name Sisto was Sisto V, born Felice Peretti in 1521. He served as Pope from 1585 to 1590 and is known for his ambitious building projects in Rome, such as the reconstruction of the Vatican Library and the completion of the famous St. Peter's Basilica.
In the 16th century, Sisto da Barga, an Italian painter and architect, was active in Florence and is best known for his work on the church of San Lorenzo in that city. He lived from approximately 1495 to 1570.
Moving forward in history, Sisto Badalocchio (1585-1647) was an Italian painter and printmaker who worked in Rome during the Baroque period. His works can be found in various churches and galleries throughout Italy.
Another notable figure named Sisto was Sisto Riario Sforza (1810-1877), an Italian cardinal and diplomat who served as the Archbishop of Naples during the mid-19th century.
While the name Sisto has its roots in ancient Rome, it has maintained a presence throughout various eras and regions, particularly in Italy, where it has been associated with several influential individuals in the realms of religion, art, and politics.
People
Sisto + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sisto 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
Sisto: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sisto?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sisto 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 1,766,775 US residents.
Is Sisto a common name?
We classify Sisto as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 406 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sisto most popular?
The single biggest year for Sisto was 1935, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sisto is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sisto in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 267 people with the name Sisto, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,863 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 Sisto 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 Sisto?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sisto leans strongly male. 266 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Sisto?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sisto is Hispanic at 70.4%. The next largest groups are White (23.6%) and Black (4.1%). 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 Sisto most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Sisto in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.4% (188 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 Sisto in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sisto a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sisto 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 Sisto still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sisto 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 Sisto 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 common is the name Sisto?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.