Sorah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "young lady" or "little princess."
Name Census estimates that about 195 living Americans carry the first name Sorah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sorah today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sorah births was 2003 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sorah. 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
195
~ 1 in 1,757,715 Americans
Peak year
2003
14 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,252
Tracked since 1977
Census
Sorah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 235 people with the first name Sorah, which placed it at #34,648 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
#34,648
National first-name rank
People counted
235
235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sorah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sorah is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Sorah 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 Sorah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.7% · 192
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.6% · 25
- Black or African American3.4% · 8
- Two or more races2.6% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Sorah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sorah from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 61 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Sorah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sorah 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 Sorah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sorahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sorah
The name Sorah originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its roots dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "Sar," which means "prince" or "leader." It is a feminine form of the name, conveying a sense of nobility and authority.
In biblical times, the name Sorah is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as one of the daughters of Asher, a son of Jacob. This reference suggests that the name has been in use for centuries, though its precise origins remain uncertain.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing the name Sorah was a Jewish scholar and poet who lived in the 11th century CE. Sorah bat Avraham, born in Worms, Germany, was renowned for her contributions to Hebrew poetry and her role in preserving Jewish culture during a time of persecution.
Another notable figure was Sorah Rivka Kalish, a 16th-century Jewish mystic and scholar from Krakow, Poland. She was renowned for her expertise in Kabbalah and her teachings, which influenced subsequent generations of Jewish thinkers.
In the 17th century, Sorah Hamou was a prominent figure in the Sephardic Jewish community of Amsterdam. She was known for her philanthropic efforts and her support for education and religious institutions.
Moving to more recent times, Sorah Supomo was an Indonesian freedom fighter and activist who played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence from Dutch colonial rule in the early 20th century. She was born in 1911 and dedicated her life to advocating for women's rights and social justice.
Sorah Naidu, born in 1932 in South Africa, was a renowned author and activist who fought against apartheid. Her writings shed light on the struggles and resilience of marginalized communities, and she played a pivotal role in the anti-apartheid movement.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Sorah throughout history, each leaving their mark on various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human experience.
People
Sorah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sorah 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
Sorah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sorah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 195 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sorah 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 1,757,715 US residents.
Is Sorah a common name?
We classify Sorah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 200 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sorah most popular?
The single biggest year for Sorah was 2003, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sorah is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sorah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 235 people with the name Sorah, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,648 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 Sorah 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 Sorah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sorah leans strongly female. 236 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Sorah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sorah is White at 81.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Sorah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sorah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.7% (192 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 Sorah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sorah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sorah 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 Sorah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sorah 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 Sorah 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 Sorah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Sorah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.